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Intrniational  Critiral  (fommfntari) 

on  tl]c  i5olg   Scrtptttves  of  tl)e  ®[b  qui) 
'Ntm  (ilcBtQinenta 

UNDER    THE    EDITORSHIP    OF 

The  Rev.  CHARLES   AUGUSTUS   BRIGGS,   D.D. 

Edivard  Robinson  Professor  of  Biblical  Theology, 
Union  Theological  Setninary,  Neiu  York ; 

The  Rev.   SAMUEL   ROLLES   DRIVER,   D.D. 

Regius  Professor  of  Hebretv,  Oxford: 

The   Rev.   ALFRED    PLUMMER,   M.A.,  D.D. 

Master  of  University  College,  Durham. 


^t  Inteiiational   Critical   Commnitars 

on  tl)c  ffjoiij  Qcrlptuveg  of  tl)e  (Dib  anb 


EDITORS'     PREFACE. 


There  are  now  before  the  public  many  Commentaries, 
written  by  British  and  American  divines,  of  a  popular  or 
homiletical  character.  T/ie  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools^ 
the  Handbooks  for  Bible  Classes  and  Private  Students,  The 
Speaker  s  Commentary^  The  Popular  Commentary  (Schaff), 
The  Expositor  s  Bible,  and  other  similar  series,  have  their 
special  place  and  importance.  But  they  do  not  enter  into 
the  field  of  Critical  Biblical  scholarship  occupied  by  such 
series  of  Commentaries  as  the  Kurzgefasstes  exegetisc/ies 
Ha?idbuch  ztim  A.  T.;  De  Wette's  Kurzgefasstes  exegetisches 
Handbuch  zum  N.  T.;  Meyer's  Kritisch-exegetischer  Kotn- 
mentar;  Keil  and  Delitzsch's  Biblischer  Commentar  iiber  das 
A.  T.;  Lange's  Theologisch-homiletisches  Bibelwerk ;  Nowack's 
Handkommentar  zum  A.  T. ;  Holtzmann's  Hafidkommentar 
zu?n  N.  T.  Several  of  these  have  been  translated,  edited, 
and  in  some  cases  enlarged  and  adapted,  for  the  English- 
speaking  public  ;  others  are  in  process  of  translation.  But 
no  corresponding  series  by  British  or  American  divines 
has  hitherto  been  produced.  The  way  has  been  prepared 
by  special  Commentaries  by  Cheyne,  Ellicott,  Kalisch, 
Lightfoot,  Perowne,  Westcott,  and  others  ;  and  the  time  has 
come,  in  the  judgment  of  the  projectors  of  this  enterprise, 
when  it  is  practicable  to  combine  British  and  American 
scholars    in    the    production    of    a    critical,    comprehensive 


editors'  preface 

Commentary  that  will  be  abreast  of  modern  biblical  scholar- 
ship, and  in  a  measure  lead  its  van. 

Messrs.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons  of  New  York,  and  Messrs. 
T.  &  T.  Clark  of  Edinburgh,  propose  to  publish  such  a 
series  of  Commentaries  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
under  the  editorship  of  Prof.  C.  A.  Briggs,  D.D.,  in  America, 
and  of  Prof.  S.  R.  Driver,  D.D.,  for  the  Old  Testament,  and 
the  Rev.  Alfred  Plummer,  D.D.,  for  the  New  Testament, 
in  Great  Britain. 

The  Commentaries  will  be  international  and  inter-con- 
fessional, and  will  be  free  from  polemical  and  ecclesiastical 
bias.  They  will  be  based  upon  a  thorough  critical  study  of 
the  original  texts  of  the  Bible,  and  upon  critical  methods  of 
interpretation.  They  are  designed  chiefly  for  students  and 
clergymen,  and  will  be  written  in  a  compact  style.  Each 
book  will  be  preceded  by  an  Introduction,  stating  the  results' 
of  criticism  upon  it,  and  discussing  impartially  the  questions 
still  remaining  open.  The  details  of  criticism  will  appear 
in  their  proper  place  in  the  body  of  the  Commentary.  Each 
section  of  the  Text  will  be  introduced  with  a  paraphrase, 
or  summary  of  contents.  Technical  details  of  textual  and 
philological  criticism  will,  as  a  rule,  be  kept  distinct  from 
matter  of  a  more  general  character ;  and  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  exegetical  notes  will  be  arranged,  as  far  as 
possible,  so  as  to  be  serviceable  to  students  not  acquainted 
with  Hebrew.  The  History  of  Interpretation  of  the  Books 
will  be  dealt  with,  when  necessary,  in  the  Introductions, 
with  critical  notices  of  the  most  important  literature  of 
the  subject.  Historical  and  Archaeological  questions,  as 
well  as  (juestions  of  Biblical  Theology,  are  included  in  the 
plan  of  the  Commentaries,  but  not  Practical  or  Homiletical 
Exegesis.     The  Volumes  will  constitute  a  uniform  series. 


THE  INTERNATIONAL   CRITICAL  COMMENTARY. 


The    following    eminent    Scholars    are    engaged    upon    the 
Volumes  named  below  : — 


Genesis. 

Exodus. 

Leviticus. 

Numbers. 

Deuteronomy. 

Joshua 

Judges. 

Samuel. 
Kings. 

Chronicles. 

Ezra  and 

Nehemiah. 

Isaiah. 
Jeremiah. 
Minor  Prophets. 
Psalms. 

Proverbs. 
Daniel. 


THE    OLD   TESTAMENT. 

The  Rev.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  D.D.,  Oriel  Professor  of  the 
Interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture,  Oxford. 

The  Rev.  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew, 

University  of  Edinburgh. 
The  Rev.  H.  A.  White,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  New  College, 

Oxford. 

G.  Buchanan  Gray,  B.A.,  Lecturer  in  Hebrew,  Mans- 
field College,  Oxford. 

The  Rev.  S.  R.  Driver,  D.D.,  Regius  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  Oxford.  [^Now  Ready. 

The   Rev.   George  Adam   Smith,    D.D.,  Professor  of 

Hebrew,  Free  Church  College,  Glasgow. 
The  Rev.  George  Moore,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew, 

Andover  Theological  Seminary,  Andover,  Mass. 

\_iVow  Ready. 
The  Rev.  H.  P.  Smith,  D.D.,  late  Professor  of  Hebrew, 

Lane  Theologic     Seminary,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Francis  Brow^n,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew 
and  Cognate  Languages,  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York  City. 

The  Rev.  Edward  L.  Curtis,  D.D.,  Professor  of  He- 
brew, Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  L.  W.  Batten,  Ph.D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew, 
P.  E.  Divinity  School,  Philadelphia. 

The  Rev.  A.  B.  Davidson,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  Free  Church  College,  Edinburgh. 

The  Rev.  A.  F.  Kirkpatrick,  D.D.,  Regius  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  and  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

W.   R.  Harper,  Ph.D.,  President  of  the   University  of 

Chicago,  Illinois. 
The  Rev.  Charles  A.  Briggs,  D.D.,  Edward  Robinson 

Professor   of    Biblical    Theology,    Union    Theological 

Seminary,   New  York. 

The  Rev.  C.  H.  Toy,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  Har- 
vard University,  Cambridge,  Massachusetts. 

The  Rev  John  P.  Peters,  Ph.D.,  late  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  P.  E.  Divinity  School,  Philadelphia,  now  Rec- 
tor of  St.  Michael's  Church,  New  York  City. 


THE  INTERHATIONAL  CRITICAL  COMMENTARY— contlnnet 


Mark. 

Luke. 
Acts. 

Romans. 

Corinthians. 
Galatians. 
Ephesians. 
Philippians. 

Hebrews. 


The  Pastoral 

Epistles. 

Revelation. 


THE    NEW    TESTAMENT. 

The  Rev.  E.  P.  Gould,  D.D.,  Professor  of  New  Testa- 
ment E.xegesis,  P.  E.  Divinity  School,  Philadelphia. 

[/n  the  Press. 

The  Rev.  Alfred  Plummer,  D.D.,  Master  of  University 
College,  Durham. 

The  Rev.  Frederick  H.  Chase,  D.D.,  Fellow  of 
Christ's  College,  Cambridge. 

The  Rev.  William  Sanday,  D.D.,  Dean  Ireland's  Pro- 
fessor of  Exegesis,  Oxford,  and  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Head- 
LAM,  M.A.  ,  Fellow  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford. 

\_Ready. 

The  Rev.  Arch.  Robertson,  D.D.,  Principal  of  Bishop 
Hatfield's  Hall,  Durham. 

The  Rev.  Ernest  D.  Burton,  A.  B.,  Professor  of  New 
Testament  Literature,  University  of  Chicago. 

The  Rev.  T.  K.  Abbott,  B.D.,  D.Lit. ,  formerly  Professor 
of  Biblical  Greek,  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 

The  Rev  Marvin  R.  Vincent,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Bib- 
lical Literature,  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 
York  City. 

The  Rev.  T.  C.  Edwards,  D.D.,  Principal  of  the  Theo- 
logical College,  Bala;  late  Principal  of  University 
College  of  Wales,  Aberystwyth. 

The  Rev.  Walter  Lock,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  Magdalen 
College,  and  Tutor  of  Keble  College,  Oxford. 

The  Rev.  Robert  H."  Charles,  M.A.,  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  and  Exeter  College,  Oxford. 


Other  C7igageme7its  will  be  announced  shortly. 


JUDGES 

GEORGE   FOOT   MOORE 


THE   INTERNATIONAL  CRITICAL   COMMENTARY 


CRITICAL    AND    EXEGETICAL 
COMMENTARY 


JUDGES 


BY         ^ 

GEORGE    FOOT    MOORE 

PROFESSOR   OF  HEBREW   IN   ANDOVER  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 
ANDOVER.    MASS. 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1895 


COPYRIGHT,   1895,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


Norfaijooti  iPress 

J.  8.  CushinK  &  Co.      Berwick  &  Smith 
Norwood  Muss.  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 


The  interest  and  importance  of  the  Book  of  Judges  lie  chiefly 
in  the  knowledge  which  it  gives  us  of  the  state  of  society  and 
religion  in  Israel  in  the  early  centuries  of  its  settlement  in  Pales- 
tine, for  which  Judges  and  Samuel  are  our  only  sources.  In 
addition  to  this,  parts  of  the  book  are  of  preeminent  historical 
value  :  in  particular,  ch.  i,  which  contains  by  far  the  oldest  and 
most  trustworthy  account  of  the  invasion  of  Canaan ;  and  ch.  5, 
the  Song  of  Deborah,  the  only  contemporary  monument  of  Isra- 
elitish  history  before  the  Kingdom.  In  the  following  commentary 
matters  of  history,  antiquities,  and  especially  the  social  and  relig- 
ious hfe  of  the  people  in  this  period,  are  properly  given  the 
largest  place ;  not  only  for  their  intrinsic  interest,  but  because 
the  knowledge  of  these  things  is  indispensable  to  any  right  under- 
standing of  the  history  of  Israel  and  of  its  religion.  The  work  of 
the  prophets  can  only  be  comprehended  in  its  relation  to  the 
national  religion  of  Israel.  But  before  there  was  a  national  religion, 
there  was  a  common  religion  of  the  Israelite  tribes  which  was  one 
of  the  most  potent  forces  in  the  making  of  the  nation.  What  this 
religion  was,  which  they  brought  with  them  into  Canaan,  and  what 
changes  it  underwent  in  contact  with  Canaanite  civilization  and 
the  rehgions  of  the  land,  we  learn  in  no  small  part  from  the  Book 
of  Judges  ;  while  here  and  there,  as  in  the  Song  of  Deborah, 
we  have  glimpses  of  a  remoter  past,  the  adoption  of  the  religion 
of  Yahweh  by  the  tribes  at  Horeb,  the  work  of  Moses. 

To  make  such  a  use  of  the  book,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish 
carefully  between  the  work  of  the  principal  author,  who  wrote  in 


vi  PREFACE 

the  6th  century  B.C.,  separated  from  the  times  of  the  judges  by 
as  many  centuries  as  He  between  us  and  the  crusades,  and  the 
much  older  sources  from  which  the  stories  of  the  judges  them- 
selves are  derived.  We  must  also,  as  far  as  possible,  define 
the  age  and  character  of  these  sources,  which  are  not  all  of  the 
same  antiquity  or  historical  value.  Nor  is  it  solely  on  historical 
grounds  that  this  is  required.  The  difficulties  which  the  inter- 
preter finds  in  the  book  are  in  considerable  part  of  a  kind  for 
which  exegesis  and  textual  criticism  have  no  solution.  They 
have  arisen  from  the  changes  and  additions  which  the  author 
made  in  transcribing  his  sources,  or  from  the  attempt  to  combine 
and  harmonize  two  parallel  but  slightly  different  versions  of  the 
same  story,  and  can  be  cleared  up  only  by  ascertaining  how  this 
was  done.  Criticism  is  thus  not  only  obligatory  upon  the  histo- 
rian, it  is  an  essential  part  of  the  work  of  the  exegete.  That  the 
task  is  dehcate  and  difficult,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  case  largely 
conjectural,  cannot  exempt  the  commentator  from  trying  to 
solve  these  knotty  questions.  At  the  worst,  the  uncertainties  of 
criticism  are  infinitely  preferable  to  the  exegetical  violence  which 
is  the  only  alternative.  In  the  commentary,  especially  in  the 
introductions  to  the  several  stories,  I  have  discussed  the  particu- 
lar problerns  of  criticism  with  such  fulness  as  they  seemed  to 
demand ;  in  the  Introduction  (§  3-6)  the  reader  will  find  set 
forth  the  general  results  to  which  these  investigations  lead. 

The  Hebrew  text  of  Judges,  with  the  exception  of  part  of 
ch.  5,  is  comparatively  well  preserved;  but  in  very  many  places 
the  ancient  versions  have  a  better  reading,  or  a  variant  which  may 
not  be  neglected.  The  Greek  translations  of  this  book  are  of 
peculiar  interest,  and  perhaps  nowhere  in  the  Old  Testament  can 
the  difficult  problems  which  this  version  presents  be  approached 
with  more  hope  of  illuminating  results.  I  trust  that  the  some- 
what full  registration  of  the  readings  of  (3  in  this  commentary 


PREFACE  vii 

may  not  be  unwelcome  to  students  of  the  Greek  as  well  as  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible.  An  edition  of  the  Hebrew  text,  with  critical  appa- 
ratus, is  in  preparation,  and  will  shortly  appear  in  "The  Sacred 
Books  of  the  Old  Testament,"  edited  by  Professor  Paul  Haupt. 

In  the  philological  notes,  I  have  been  mindful  of  the  fact  that 
it  is  the  commentator's  duty,  not  to  follow  the  lexicographer  and 
the  grammarian,  but  to  precede  them ;  and  have  investigated 
afresh,  and  as  far  as  possible  exhaustively,  all  questions  of  ety- 
mology, usage,  and  construction  which  seemed  to  require  it.j 
If,  in  many  cases,  I  cannot  flatter  myself  that  these  investiga- 
tions have  added  much  light,  they  have  often  performed  at  least 
the  negative  service  of  showing  that  commonly  accepted  inter- 
pretations are  unsound.  In  the  hope  that  the  commentary  may 
be  used  to  some  extent  by  students,  for  whose  reading  the  Book 
of  Judges  is  peculiarly  well  suited,  some  notes  of  a  more  ele- 
mentary character  on  the  forms  of  words  and  on  grammatical 
points  have  been  added. 

In  conformity  with  the  general  plan  of  the  series,  all  matters 
of  textual  criticism  and  Hebrew  philology,  together  with  more 
detailed  and  technical  discussions  of  points  of  criticism,  antiq- 
uities, and  topography,  have  been  kept  apart  from  the  body  of 
the  commentary,  and  will  be  found  in  smaller  type  at  the  end 
of  the  paragraphs.  It  is  one  of  the  evils  of  this  arrangement  that 
the  grounds  of  an  interpretation  must  often  be  sought  in  another 
place  from  the  interpretation  itself,  while  in  other  instances 
some  repetition  is  unavoidable.  It  is  believed,  however,  that 
the  separation  will  prove  convenient  to  many  who  may  use 
the  commentary;  and  I  have  endeavoured  to  diminish  its  dis- 
advantages by  cross-references  and  full  indexes. 

I  have  tried  to  make  good  use  of  all  that  has  been  done 
hitherto  for  the  criticism  and  interpretation  of  the  book.  The 
commentators  whom  I  have  chiefly  consulted  are  named  in  the 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


Introduction,  §  9,  the  critics  at  the  end  of  §  6 ;  other  works  are 
referred  to  in  the  foot-notes  of  the  commentary.  It  is  not 
improbable  that,  in  this  extensive  and  scattered  Hterature,  I  may 
have  overlooked  some  things  of  importance ;  I  have  not  inten- 
tionally ignored  any.  Several  books  of  great  value  have  appeared 
during  the  printing  of  this  volume,  so  that  I  have,  to  my  regret 
and  loss,  been  able  to  use  them  only  in  the  later  chapters; 
among  these  I  may  name  particularly  Benzinger,  Hebrdische 
Aj-chdologie,  1894;  Nowack,  Lehrbuch  der  Hebrdischen  Archd- 
ologie,  1 894 ;  G.  A.  Smith,  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy 
Land,  1894;  and  the  12th  edition  of  Gesenius'  Handworterbuch^ 
thoroughly  revised  by  Buhl,  1895. 

A  list  of  the  principal  abbreviations  employed  will  be  found  on 
p.  474.  They  conform,  by  the  editors*  desire,  to  those  used  in 
the  new  Hebrew  Lexicon,  in  course  of  publication  under  the  edi- 
torship of  Professors  Brown,  Driver,  and  Briggs.  The  references 
in  the  commentary  have  been  carefully  verified,  and  will,  I  trust, 
be  found  accurate.  In  the  few  instances  in  which  I  have  not 
been  able  to  consult  a  book  which  is  cited,  the  fact  is  indi- 
cated by  a  C")  affixed  to  the  title.  The  citations  of  Scripture  in 
the  body  of  the  commentary  follow  the  chapter  and  verse  numer- 
ation of  the  Authorized  Version  as  given  in  the  Queen's  Print- 
er's Bible ;  in  the  critical  notes  the  verses  are  those  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible  (Van  der  Hooght's  ed.,   1705). 

It  is  a  pleasant  duty  to  acknowledge  the  assistance  which 
I  have  received  in  the  preparation  of  this  volume  from  my 
colleague  and  friend.  Dr.  Charles  C.  Torrey,  Instructor  in  the 
Semitic  Languages  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  who  has 
read  nearly  all  the  proofs,  and  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for 
some  valuable  suggestions  and  corrections. 

G.   F.   M. 

July,  1895- 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Preface v-viii 

Introduction xi-1 

§  I.    Title.     Place  of  the  Book  in  the  Canon xi 

§  2.    Contents     .     .    ■ xiii 

§  3.    The  History  of  the  "Judges,  ii.  6-xvi.  ji.      Character  and 

Age XV 

§  4.    The  Sources  of  Judges  ii.  6-xvi.  ji xix 

§  5.    The  Sources  of  Judges  xvii.-xxi.   and  of  i.-ii.  j*      .     .  xxix 

§  6.    The   Composition  of  the  Book  of  Judges xxxiii 

§  7.    Chronology  of  the  Book  of  Judges xxxvii 

§  8.    Hebrew   Text  and  Ancient  Versions xliii 

§  9.    Interpreters  of  the  Book  of  Judges .  xlvii 

Commentary i-454 

Index 455-476 

I.    Matters. 
II.   Hebrew  Words  and  Forms. 

III.  Grammatical  Observations. 

IV.  Passages  Incidentally  Discussed. 
Abbreviations. 

ix 


ADDENDA   AND    CORRIGENDA 


p.  7  n.  X.     Sacred  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  ed.  by  P.  Haupt,  1894. 

P,  42, 1.  33.     The  conjecture  is  Giesebrecht's,  Z^  7"^.  i.  p.  234. 

P.  63  f.     See  Introduction,  p.  xxvii  f. 

P.  70  f.     On  Astarte  see  now  also  G.  A.  Barton,  *'  The  Semitic  Istar  Cult," 

Hebraica,  ix.  p.  131-165;   x.  p.  1-74. 
P.  86,  1.  21  ff.  and  n.  f .     Perhaps  asratum  is  not  nityx  but  nnntry;  see  G. 

Hoffmann,   Ueber  einige  Ph'on.  Inschriften,  p.  26  f.     In  a  tablet  in  the 

Brit.  Museum  (No.  33  obv,  1.  3)  the  name  is  actually  written   with  an 

ideogram  for  Ishtar. 
P.  100,  102.     On  Seirah  see  v.  Kasteren,  Mitth.  u.  Nachrichten  d.  Deutschen 

Palaestiua-Vereins,  1895,  P*  26-30. 
P.  138,  1.  25  f.     See  W.  R.  Smith,  in  Smaller  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools, 

Judges,  p.  39. 
P.    175,  367.     C.   Niebuhr,    Studien   u,   Bemerkungen   zur    Gesch.   d.  alien 

Orients,  1894,°  has  analyzed  Jud.  6-8,  17-21,  and  parts  of  eh.  i.     See 

Theol    Jahresbericht,  xiv.  p.  54. 
P.  195,  1.  5.     The  note  on  7^  has  been  accidentally  omitted. 
P.  206,  i.  29 f.  and  n.*.     ZATW.  ii.  p.  175. 
P.  242,  n.*.     For  14^  read  p.  329,  340. 
P.  243,  1.  27.     For  132  read  p.  316. 
P.  297,  1.  I  ff.     Compare  Introduction,  §  7. 
P-  3i5>  1-  3  from  below.     For  181  read  p.  371  f. 
P.  380.     With  Micah's  son  as  his  priest,  cf.  Wellhausen,  Reste  arah.  Heiden- 

ttimes^  p.  13. 
P.  417,  419.     On  Belial  see  Cheyne,  Expositor,  June,  1895,  P*  435~439- 
P.  426.     With  2oi^^  cf.  78. 


INTRODUCTION, 


§  I.    Title.     Place  of  the  Book  in  the   Cation. 

The  title,  Judges,  or.  The  Book  of  Judges,  which  the  book 
bears  in  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Bibles,*  is  given  to  it  because 
it  relates  the  exploits  of  a  succession  of  Israelite  leaders  and 
champions  who,  in  the  book  itself  as  well  as.  in  other  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament,  are  called  Judges.!  The  signification  of  the 
Hebrew  word  is,  however,  much  wider  than  that  of  the  Greek 
KptTTJ?,  the  \^2i\\rv judex,  or  the  English  'judge.'  The  verb  shaphat 
is  not  only  judicafe,  X  but  vindicare,  both  in  the  sense  of  *  defend, 
deliver,'  and  in  that  of  'avenge,  punish.'  §  The  participle  shophet 
is  not  only  judex,  but  vi?idex,  and  is  not  infrequently  synonymous 
with  '  deliverer.'  ||  Again,  as  the  administration  of  justice  was,  in 
times  of  peace,  the  most  important  function  of  the  chieftain  or 
kin^,  the  noun  is  sometimes  equivalent  to  '  ruler,'  ^  and  the  verb 
signifies,  '  rule,  govern.'  In  this  sense  it  is  most  natural  to  take 
it  in  the  lists  of  Minor  Judges,  where  we  read,  for  example  of 
Tola  :  He  judged  Israel  twenty-three  years.  .  .  .  And  after  him 
arose  J^r,  the  Gileadite,  and  judged  Israel  twenty-t\^«o  years.** 
It  is  clear  that  the  writer  regarded  these  judges  as  a  succession  of 


*  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  §. 

t  Jud.  2I6. 17. 18,  2  S.  77  (corrected  by  i  Chr.  176)  7II  (=  i  Chr.  17IO)  2  K.  2322 
Ruth  ii  Ecclus.  46II;  cf.  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  vi.  5,  4  ^^  85. 

X  The  only  place  in  Jud.  where  it  has  this  sense  is  ^^-  ^  ;  but  this  is  perhaps  not 
the  original  meaning  of  v.^. 

ij  See  below,  p.  88, 89,  and  in  addition  to  the  authors  cited  there,  Kohler,  Biblische 
Geschichte,  ii.  i.  p.  24. 

II  Jud.  2I6  39. 10  loi.  2  Neh.  92?  Is.  1920 ;  Bachmann,  Richter,  p.  31  n. 

11  Am.  23  (cf.  ii5)  Hos.  77  Mi.  5I  Ps.  210  &c.  So  also  in  Phoenician ;  see  note  at 
the  end  of  this  §. 

**  Jud.  Io2-  3  cf.  127.  8.  11.  14  1520  I  S.  41s  7I6  cf.  820. 

xi 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

chiefs,  who  arose  in  different  parts  of  the  land,  ruhng  with  an 
authority  which  was  personal  and  not  hereditary.*  The  same 
conception  is  probably  to  be  recognized  in  2^\  the  Israelites  would 
not  obey  their  judges.  The  word  'judge'  is  not  used  of  Ehud, 
Barak,  or  Gideon,  and  seems  not  to  have  been  found  in  the  oldest 
of  the  author's  sources.!  The  title.  Book  of  Judges,  was  in  all 
probability  meant  by  those  who  prefixed  it  to  the  book  to  corre- 
spond to  that  of  the  Book  of  Kings;  the  judges  were  the  succes- 
sion of  rulers  and  defenders  of  Israel  before  the  hereditary 
monarchy,  as  the  kings  were  afterwards.  | 

In  the  Hebrew  Bible  the  Book  of  Judges  stands  in  the  first 
division  of  the  Prophets,  the  Prophetic  Histories  (Jos.,  Jud.,  Sam., 
Kings), §  which  narrate  continuously  the  history  of  Israel  from 
the  invasion  of  Canaan  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  (586  B.C.).  In  the 
Greek  Bible,  Ruth  is  appended  to  it,  sometimes  under  one  title 
(K/atrat),  sometimes  under  its  own  name ;  and  in  manuscripts,  the 
Pentateuch,  together  with  Joshua,  Judges,  and  Ruth,  frequently 
forms  a  codex  (Octateuch).  ||  In  the  history  of  Israel  before  the 
exile.  Judges  covers  the  time  from  the  close  of  the  period  of  con- 
quest and  occupation  with  the  death  of  Joshua  to  the  beginning 
of  the  struggle  with  the  Philistines  in  the  days  of  Eh.lf  A  better 
division,  from  our  point  of  view,  would  have  been  the  estabhsh- 
ment  of  the  kingdom  of  Saul,  and  there  is  some  evidence  that,  in 
one  at  least  of  the  older  histories  which  our  author  had  before 
him,  Eli  and  Samuel  were  reckoned  among  the  judges ;  **  but  as 
Samuel  is  the  central  figure  in  the  story  of  the  founding  of  the 


*  Others  of  them  besides  Jephthah  (118-11)  and  Gideon  may  have  obtained  this 
power  by  successful  leadership  in  war. 

tCf.  315  614  &c.( deliver). 

X  Whether  this  title  was  first  given  to  the  canonical  Judges,  or  to  one  of  its 
predecessors,  is  not  certain.  —  In  the  sense  indicated  above  the  word  Judge  is 

understood   by   Fl.  Jos.    (<TTpaTrjyoi',  ap;!^o^Te?, /aofap^oi.,  auTOKparope?  ijye/u.oi'e?,  —  Ba.), 

Stud.,  Reuss  (Heldenbuch),  al.  Book  of  the  Deliverers  of  Israel,  Ephr.  Syr., 
Bachmann,  Kohler,  al.  Of  judges  in  the  common  sense,  it  is  taken  by  Ew.  {GVI. 
ii.  p.  509),  Hitz.,  Cass.,  al. 

§  O-'JV^'NI  D\S'OJ. 

II  This  fact  is  not  without  importance  in  the  history  of  the  text. 
H  Jud.  11-2^,  which  describes  the  invasion  and  settlement,  overlaps  the  Book  of 
Joshua;  see  below,  p.  7-10. 

♦*  See  I  S.  4i»  7I5,  and  below,  ^  4,  p.  xxiif. 


TITLE   AND   PLACE   IN   THE   CANON  xiii 

kingdom,  it  was  not  unnatural  to  begin  a  new  book  with  his  birth. 
The  character  of  the  two  works  shows  conclusively  that  Judges 
was  not  composed  by  the  author  of  Samuel ;  the  peculiar  religious 
interpretation  of  the  history  which  is  impressed  so  strongly  on 
Judges  is  almost  entirely  lacking  in  Samuel.* 

The  Title.  —  a^asi!:',  Baba  bathra  \/!^;  Sa0aTetyu,  Orig.;  Sophiim^  Jerome. 
KpiTai,  Melito,  Orig.,  titles  in  (^ABai..  ^  tQj,  KpirCov  ^L^\os,tG}v  kpitCjv,  Greek 
Ff.  generally.  Philo  {de  confus.  lingg.  c.  26,  i.  p.  424  ed.  Mangey),  7\  tQv 
KpLfxdTOJV  dvaypa(po/x4vr]  pij3\os  ;  cf.  BacrtXeiwi',  Regnoruin,  for  Kings.  Liber 
Judictcm^  Judicum,  in  the  Latin  Church.  In  Syriac,  Sephar  dayyane  {dabnai 
Isrdil),  Book  of  Judges  (5>ploH)  .  another,  and  perhaps  older  title  is,  Paroqe 
dabnai  Israil,  The  Deliverers  of  the  Israelites  (^^) ;  cf.  Ephrem,  i.  p.  308. 
The  book  was  also  known  by  its  Hebrew  title,  Shaphte  or  Shaphefe  (5^^^, 
BO.  iii.  I.  p.  5,  62,  71,  &c.),  which  was  early  corrupted  to  Shabhie,  as  if 
from  :o;3i^,  tribe;  f  so  in  ^\  see  Ephrem,  /.  s.  c. —  Szifetes,  qui  summus  Poenis 
est  magistratus  (Liv.,  xxviii.  37)  ;  quod  velut  consulare  imperium  apud  eos  erat 
(?<5.  XXX.  7,  of  Carthage;  cf.  xxxiv.  61),  In  Latin  inscriptions  from  Africa  we 
learn  of  the  sufetes  of  a  number  of  cities  (^CIL.  viii.  No.  7,  765,  10525); 
sometimes  two  are  named  {ib.  No.  797,  5306).  toot:'  occurs  frequently  in 
inscriptions,  J  but  it  is  in  most  cases  uncertain  whether  ordinary  judges  or 
chief  magistrates  are  meant.  In  Spain  and  Sardinia  (Cagliari),  the  governors 
and  petty  kings  were  in  the  Middle  Ages  called  judices  (Ducange,  5.z/.),  §  in 
which  we  may  be  disposed  to  see  a  survival  from  the  times  of  the  Phoenician 
rule.  The  sufetes  of  Carthage  and  the  Punic  colonies  were  a  regular  magis- 
tracy, and  belong  to  a  much  more  highly  organized  political  society  than  the 
shophetim  of  the  O.T.  We  might  rather  compare  the  diKaa-rai  who  held  the 
supreme  power  at  Tyre  for  brief  periods  during  an  interregnum  in  the  6th 
cent.  B.C.  (Fl.  Jos.,  c.  Ap.  i.  21  §  157).  || 

§  2.    Contents. 

The  Book  of  Judges  consists  of  three  parts  :     1^-2*,   2^-16'^', 

1 7-2 1. IF 

*  On  the  cognate  pragmatism  of  parts  of  i  S.  1-12,  see  below,  p.  xxxiv  n. 

t  The  same  confusion  of  :Di3i:',  103::',  occurs  in  various  places  in  the  O.T.,  e.g.  2  S. 
^^  P?,  Dt  ii5  ©. 

X  See  Bloch,  Phoenicisches  Glossar,  s.v. 

^  Cf.  a\so  Judex  =  praeses  provinciae,  CIL.  viii.  No.  949. 

II  On  the  Assyrian  shiptu  shapitu,  see  Jensen,  ZA.  v.  278-280. 

II  So  most  recent  scholars;  Kue.,  Schrad.,  We.,  Sta.,  Be.,  Reuss,  Bu.,  Dr., 
Co.,  K6.,  Kitt.,  al.  For  other  opinions,  especially  about  the  division  of  ii-3*^,  see 
Ba.,  p.  77-80, 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

(1)  1^-2-1     A   BRIEF  ACCOUNT  OF  THE    CONQUESTS   AND   SETTLEMENTS 

OF  THE  Israelite  tribes  in  Canaan. 

1I--I.   The  southern  tribes;     Judah,  Caleb,  the   Kenites,  Simeon, 

Benjamin. 
,22-29^    The  central  tribes  ;   Joseph  (Manasseh,  Ephraim). 
i30-33^   The  northern  tribes  ;   Zebulun,  Asher,  Naphtali. 
i34-35_    Dan's  settlements  in  the  west. 
i*».    The  southern  border. 
2i-°.   The  Angel  of  Yahweh  reproves  the  Israelites  for  sparing  the 

inhabitants  of  the  land,  and  foretells  the  consequences. 

(2)  2*^-i6"^   The  history  of  Israel  in  the  days  of  the  Judges. 

26_3f>.  Introduction  :  The  religious  interpretation  and  judgement  of 
the  whole  period  as  a  recurring  cycle  of  defection  from  Yahweh, 
subjugation,  and  deliverance. — The  nations  which  Yahweh  left 
in  Palestine. 

36- 1 6^^    The  stories  of  the  Judges  and  their  heroic  deeds. 

3'-!^  Othniel  delivers  Israel  from  Cushan-rishathaim,  King  of 
Aram-naharaim. 

312-31.    Ehud  kills  Eglon,  King  of  Moab,  and  liberates  Israel. 

3^'.    Shamgar  kills  six  hundred  Philistines. 

4.  Deborah  and  Barak  deliver  Israel  from  the  Canaanites ;  the 
defeat  and  death  of  Sisera. 

5.  Triumphal  ode,  celebrating  this  victory. 
6-8.    Gideon  rids  Israel  of  the  Midianites. 

9.    Abimelech,  the  son  of  Gideon,  King  of  Shechem. 

10I-5.   Tola;   Jair. 

106-I8.   xhe  moral  of  the  history  repeated  and  enforced  ;   preface 

to  a  new  period  of  oppression. 
1 1I-12'.  Jephthah  delivers  Gilead  from  the  Ammonites;  he  punishes 

the  Ephrainiites. 
I28'-15,    Ibzan,  Elon,  Abdon. 
13-16.     The  adventures  of  Samson,  and  the  mischief  he  does  the 

Philistines. 

( 3 )  17-21.   Two  additional  stories  of  the  times  of  the  Judges. 

17,  18.  Micah's  idols;  the  migration  of  the  Danites,  and  founda- 
tion of  the  sanctuary  at  Dan. 

19-21.  The  outrage  comrriitted  by  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeah  upon 
the  Levitc's  concubine.  The  vengeance  of  the  Israelites,  ending 
in  the  almost  complete  extermination  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin. 

Chapters   2^-16'^'   constitute    the  body  of  the  work,  to  wliich 
alone  the  title,  Book  of  Judges,  in  strictness  applies.     Ch.  17-21 


CONTENTS  XV 

is  an  appendix,  relating  two  important  events  of  the  period  pre- 
ceding the  establishment  of  the  kingdom.*  As  we  find  in  these 
chapters  no  trace  of  the  distinctive  historical  theories,  or  the 
strongly  marked  style,  of  the  author  of  2''-i6^^,  we  may  confidently 
infer  that  these  two  stories  were  not  appended  to  his  book  by 
himself,  but  by  some  later  hand.f  Ch.  i,  as  interpreted  by 
2^'^,  forms  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  present  book,  showing  how 
the  old  inhabitants  were  left  in  possession  of  the  chief  cities  of 
Canaan.  Their  religion  became  a  snare  to  the  invaders ;  and 
thus  the  culpable  failure  to  extirpate  people  and  gods  together 
was  the  prime  cause  of  all  the  evils  that  befell  Israel  in  the  follow- 
ing generations.  But  although,  in  this  light,  1^-2^  is  a  very  good 
beginning  for  the  book,  it  cannot  have  been  prefixed  by  the 
author  of  2^-3'^^  whose  own  extended  introduction  (2^-3'')  not 
only  takes  no  notice  of  1^-2^,  but  by  its  connexion  with  Jos. 
formally  excludes  it.  J  Like  the  appendix,  17-21,  therefore,  1^-2^ 
must  have  been  introduced  by  a  compiler  or  editor  later  than  the 
author  of  2^-16^^. 


§  3.    TTie  Hisk)ry  of  the  Judges,  ii.  6-xvi.  31.     Character 
and  age.  § 

In  the  Introduction  (2^-3^),  the  author  gives  a  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  history  of  the  entire  period.  The  generation  which 
had  seen  all  the  great  work  of  Yahweh,  in  Egypt,  in  the  desert, 
and  in  the  conquest  of  Canaan  (2^),  remained  true  to  him;  but 
after  the  death  of  Joshua  and  his  contemporaries,  Israel  fell  away 
from  Yahweh,  the  God  of  their  fathers,  and  worshipped  the  Baals 
and  Astartes,  the  gods  of  the  nations  about  them.  Indignant  at 
this  unfaithfulness,  Yahweh  gave  them  into  the  power  of  their 
enemies,  who  subjugated  and  oppressed  them.  Moved  by  their 
distress,  Yahweh  repeatedly  raised  up  leaders   (judges)  who  de- 

*  The  references  to  the  grandsons  of  Moses  (iS^")  and  of  Aaron  (20-s)  show 
that,  in  the  view  of  the  writer  at  least,  these  events  took  place  at  the  beginning  of 
this  period,  within  a  generation  after  the  invasion,  not  at  its  end. 

t  See  below,  §  5,  6. 

X  See  below,  \  5,  6,  and  p.  3  flf. 

§  For  the  titles  of  the  principal  works  on  the  subject  of  this  and  the  following 
sections,  see  note  at  the  end  of  \  6. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

livered  them  from  their  foes.*  But  they  persisted  in  the  worship 
of  other  gods,  or  relapsed  into  it  when  the  judge  was  dead ;  each 
generation  was  worse  than  those  before  it.  Neither  punishment 
nor  deUverance  wrought  any  lasting  amendment.  The  history  of 
each  of  the  judges  begins  with  a  few  sentences  telling  us  how  the 
Israelites  offended  Yahweh ;  how  he  gave  them  into  the  power  of 
this  or  that  hostile  people  for  a  number  of  years ;  and  how  he  at 
last  raised  up  a  deliverer.f  The  introductions  to  the  stories  of 
Gideon  (6^-^")  and  Jephthah  (lo^'"^*')  are  longer,  and  the  moral  is 
enforced  in  the  words~bT'a  prophet,  or  of  Yahweh  himself,  up- 
braiding the  Israelites  for  their  disobedience  and  ingratitude. 
The  history  of  all  these  successive  oppressions  and  deliverances 
thus  exemplifies  and  confirms  the  representation  of  the  whole, 
period  which  is  given  in  the  introduction.  |  Temporibus  .  .  . 
judicum,  sicut  se  habebant  et  peccata  populi  et  misericordia  Dei, 
alternaverunt  prospera  et  adversa  bellorum.  § 

It  is  clear  that  in  all  this  the  author's  purpose  is  not  merely  to 
interpret  the  history,  and  explain  upon  religious  principles  why 
such  evils  befell  Israel  in  the  days  of  the  judges,  but  to  impress 
upon  his  readers  the  lesson  that  unfaithfulness  to  Yahweh  is 
always  punished;  that  whenever  Israel  falls  away  from  him,  he 
withdraws  his  protection  and  leaves  it  defenceless  before  its  foes. 
By  historical  examples  he  would  warn  his  contemporaries  against 
a  like  apostasy.  His  motive  and  aim  are  thus  not  historical,  but 
religious.  ||  In  a  different,  but  not  less  effective  way,  he  inculcates 
the  same  truth  which  all  the  prophets  preached ;  Yahweh  is 
Israel's  God,  and  the  rehgion  of  Israel  is  to  keep  itself  to  him 
alone.^ 

The  author's  motive,  the  lesson  he  enforces,  and  the  way  in 
which  he  makes  the  history  teach  it,  are  almost  the  only  data  at 
our  command  to  ascertain  the  age  in  which  he  lived.     Indefinite 

*  Cf.  3^- 15  43^-  cj  lo^OflF. ;  of  the  repentance  of  the  people  we  read  only  in  lo^^f.. 

t  See  3I2-15  37-u  4iff.  13I ;  cf.  p.  62  f. 

X  For  the  evidence  that  the  introductions  to  the  stories  of  the  judges  are  by  the 
same  author  as  2^-36,  see  esp.  Kuenen,  HCO^.  i.  p.  340  f. 

^  Aug.,  de  civ.  Dei,  xvi.  43 ;  cf.  xviii.  13. 

II  It  is  inaccurate  to  speak  of  his  "  philosophy  of  history  "  ;  nothing  is  further 
from  his  mind  than  a  philosophical  analysis  of  the  causes  of  events. 

H  See  Reuss,  GA  T.  \  275  ;   Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  6f. 


JUDGES   II.   6— XVI.   31  :    AUTHORSHIP  xvii 

as  such  criteria  may  seem,  they  are,  when  the  character  of  the 
work  is  sufficiently  marked,  among  the  most  conclusive ;  and  in 
this  case  they  enable  us  to  determine,  beyond  reasonable  doubt, 
the  period  and  circle  in  which  the  book  was  written. 

That  the  history  of  Israel  is  a  divine  discipline,  righteous,  wise, 
and  good,  is  the  great  idea  of  the  prophets.  In  old  Israel,  as 
among  other  nations,  defeat  in  battle,  foreign  invasion  and  con- 
quest, were  indeed  ascribed  to  the  anger  of  the  national  god, 
whom  his  people,  or  members  of  it,  had  in  some  way  offended. 
But  that  Yahweh's  anger  as  well  as  his  favour  is  moral,  and  that 
therefore  his  dealing  with  his  people  is  to  be  understood  upon 
moral  premises,  was  first  distinctly  taught  by  the  prophets  of  the 
8th  century.  This  principle  was  naturally  applied  by  them  in 
the  first  place  to  the  present  and  the  immediate  future.  But  the 
evils  of  the  present  have  their  roots  in  the  past;  and  Hosea, 
looking  back  over  the  history  of  Israel  from  the  time  of  the  settle- 
ment in  Canaan,  sees  in  it  one  long,  dark  chapter  of  defection 
from  Yahweh,  of  heathenish  worship  and  heathenish  wickedness. 
It  is  Hosea,  also,  who  represents  unfaithfulness  to  Yahweh  as  the 
one  great  sin  from  which  all  others  spring,  and  who,  with  a  figure 
drawn  from  his  own  unhappy  home,  brands  this  unfaithfulness 
with  the  name  '  prostitution,'  by  which  later  writers  so  often  char- 
acterize it.* 

The  prophets  of  the  end  of  the  7th  and  the  beginning  of  the  6th 
century  judge  Judah  in  the  same  way  in  which  Hosea,  in  the 
last  years  of  the  Northern  Kingdom,  had  judged  Israel.  In  the 
long  reign  of  Manasseh,  foreign  gods  and  foreign  cults  were  intro- 
duced in  Judah  on  a  scale  never  before  witnessed ;  the  principle 
of  exclusiveness  which  was  native  in  the  religion  of  Yahweh,  and 
which  the  prophets  had  proclaimed  with  ever  increasing  absolute- 
ness, was  recklessly  trampled  under  foot.  This  was,  as  Jeremiah 
constantly  declared,  the  unpardonable  sin  which  nothing  short  of 
the  destruction  of  the  nation  could  expiate. t  Ezekiel  represents 
the  exile  as  the  punishment  of  the  sins  of  Israel  in  its  whole  past : 
in    Egypt,  in  the  wilderness,  in  Canaan,  it  had   always    been   a 

*  Jud.  2i^  827. 33 ;  see  below,  p.  72.  —  With   the  following  cf.  Stade,    G  VI.  ii. 

p.  15  ff. 

t  See  e,g.  Jer.  15  ;  cf.  also  2  K.  22}^-'-^. 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

rebellious  people,  ever  falling  away  from  Yahweh  into  heathenism 
and  idolatry.* 

The  signal  fulfilment  of  the  prophets'  predictions  in  the  fall  of 
Judah,  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  deportation  of  its 
inhabitants,  set  the  seal  of  God's  truth  not  only  on  their  religious 
teaching,  but  upon  their  judgement  of  the  past  of  Israel.  In  the 
light  of  this  judgement,  disciples  of  the  prophets  wrote  the  history 
of  the  two  kingdoms,  using  and  adapting  the  old  records  to  illus- 
trate and  enforce  the  great  lessons  which  prophecy  had  taught. 
The  same  ruling  ideas,  the  same  practical  motives,  permeate  the 
Book  of  Deuteronomy,  especially  the  opening  and  closing  chap- 
ters,! and  are  indeed  so  prominent  in  it  that  the  historical  prag- 
matism of  which  we  have  been  speaking  is  frequently,  and  not. 
inappropriately,  called  Deuteronomic,  and  the  writers  whose  work 
it  characterizes,  the  Deuteronomic  school. 

To  this  school  the  author  of  Jud.  2^-16^^  manifestly  belongs. 
What  others  had  done  for  the  history  of  the  Kingdom,  he  does  for 
the  centuries  between  the  invasion  and  the  days  of  Samuel.  |  From 
the  very  first  generation  after  the  settlement  in  Canaan,  Israel 
had  left  Yahweh,  to  run  after  other  gods  and  prostitute  itself  to 
them ;  and  in  this  course  it  persisted  through  the  whole  period, 
in  spite  of  all  warnings  and  chastisements.  The  part  of  the  book 
which  we  are  now  considering  can,  therefore,  hardly  have  been 
written  before  the  beginning  of  the  6th  century.  § 

Other  considerations  might  incline  us  to  put  it  some  decades 
later.  It  is  antecedently  probable  that  the  new  school  of  histo- 
rians applied  themselves  first  to  the  history  of  the  Kingdom,  where 
the  prophets  had  gone  before  them,  and  in  which  the  moral  was 
more  impressive  because  nearer  at  hand.  From  that  they  would 
naturally  go  back  to  the  earlier  period.  The  same  inference  may 
perhaps  be  drawn  from  the  fact  that  the  judgement  of  Israel's 
past  in  our  book  is  more  severe  than  in  the  Kings.  In  the  latter, 
the  sin  of  the  people  is  in  no  small  part  the  worship  on  the  high 
places,  a  heathenish  form   of  worship,  forbidden  by  the  law,  but 

*  See  asp.  Ez.  16  20  23.  f  Ch.  i-ii  27-33  '<  see  e.^.  4I5-40  28  29IO-28 

X  There  is  no  sufficient  ground  for  identifying  him  with  any  one  of  the  Deu- 
teronomic writers  in  Dt.  or  Jos.,  or  with  the  Deut.  author  of  Kings. 
§  Schrader,  We.,  Kuc,  Sta.,  Bu.,  Dr.,  Co.,  Kitt.,  al. 


JUDGES   II.   6— XVI.   31:    AGE  .  xix 

still  a  worship  of  Yahweh.     In  Judges  the  apostasy  is  complete  ; 
the  people  abandons  Yahweh  for  the  Baals  and  Astartes.* 

The  conclusions  to  which  an  examination  of  the  contents  of  the 
book  leads  are  confirmed  by  the  evidence  of  its  vocabulary  and 
style,  in  which  the  affinity  to  the  literature  of  the  end  of  the  7th 
century  is  unmistakable.  In  the  commentary  these  parallels  are 
noted,  and  they  need  not  be  repeated  here.f 

§  4.    The  Sources  of  Judges  ii.  6-xvi.  31. 

The  characteristics  which  have  been  discussed  in  the  last  section 
appear  chiefly  in  the  introduction  (2^-3^)  and  at  the  beginning 
of  the  histories  of  the  several  judges.  The  stories  themselves, 
with  the  exception  of  that  of  Othniel  (3^""),  show  few  traces  of 
the  author's  distinctive  conceptions  or  expressions.  %  Some  of 
them  —  for  instance,  Samson's  adventures  among  the  Philistines 
—  have  little  or  no  relation  to  the  purpose  of  the  book ;  others 
relate  of  the  judges  things  which  must  have  been  offensive  to  the 
author,  such  as  Gideon's  setting  up  the  ephod  and  the  sacrifice  of 
Jephthah's  daughter;  in  all,  the  rehgious  ideas,  the  language, 
and  style,  are  entirely  unlike  his  own.§  It  is  plain  therefore, 
that  the  author  of  Jud.  2*^-16^^  did  not  write  these  stories  himself, 
but  took  them  from  older  sources. 

These  sources  cannot  have  been  oral  tradition,  or  unwritten 
popular  legends,  ||  for,  apart  from  the  difficulty  of  supposing  that 
oral  tradition  had  transmitted  to  so  late  a  time  such  lifelike  and 
truthful  pictures  of  a  state  of  society  that  had  passed  away  cen- 

*  See  Stade,  G  VI.  ii.  p.  21.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  in  the  theory  of 
the  Deuteronomic  writers,  the  local  cults  on  the  high  places  were  not  prohibited 
till  after  the  building  of  the  temple. 

t  See  especially  on  26-36  37-II  and  the  introductions  to  the  several  stories ;  cf. 
also  Kue.,  HCCft-.  i.  p.  339;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  91  f.,  128;  Ko.,  Eiul.,  p.  254. 

X  Kitt.  thinks  it  very  probable  that  the  author  of  37-11  also  wrote  625-32  72-8  8-'2f. ; 
but  these  passages  appear  to  me  to  be  derived  from  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  the 
book. 

\  Compare  the  story  of  Ehud  (3I2-30)  with  that  of  Othniel  (s'-H).  The  latter 
shows  us,  better  than  anything  else,  what  these  histories  would  be  like  if  the  author 
had  written  them  himself.  We  may  also  compare  the  chapters  of  ancient  history 
with  which  the  author  of  Chronicles  supplements  Kings,  —  all,  oi.  course,  in  his 
own  peculiar  manner.  ||  Stahelin,  al. 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

turies  before,  in  reducing  oral  tradition  to  writing,  the  author 
would  inevitably  have  left  the  impress  of  his  own  style  upon  the 
stories  far  more  deeply  than  is  the  case ;  the  Deuteronomic 
pecuUarities  we  have  noted  above  would  not  be  confined  to  the 
beginning  and  end  of  the  tales.  The  greater  or  less  unevenness 
of  which  we  are  always  aware  in  passing  from  the  introduction 
to  the  story  which  follows,  is  clearly  the  joint  by  which  an  older 
written  source  is  united  to  the  Deuteronomic  preface. 

If  the  author  employed  written  sources,  our  next  inquiry  is, 
whether  he  made  his  choice  among  single  tales  or  different  collec- 
tions of  tales,  or  whether  he  took  them  all  from  some  one  older 
book,  lliis  question  cannot  be  answered  with  entire  certainty ; 
it  is  quite  conceivable  that  the  cycle  of  stories  about  Samson,  for. 
instance,  may  have  existed  separately ;  but  it  is  demonstrable,  I 
think,  that  the  author  had  before  him  an  older  work  in  which  the 
exploits  of  a  considerable  number  of  the  Israelite  heroes  were 
narrated ;  *  and  if  this  is  true,  it  may  very  well  be  that  this  col- 
lection was  his  only  source.  It  is  easier  to  understand  how  a 
story  like  that  of  Samson  should  have  been  included  in  the  Deu- 
teronomic Book  of  Judges,  if  the  author  found  it  in  the  earlier 
work  on  which  he  based  his  own,  than  to  imagine  that  he  intro- 
duced it  for  himself  from  some  other  source. 

A  more  minute  examination  of  the  introduction  to  the  book 
(2^-3*),  and  of  the  setting  of  the  several  stories,  especially  those 
of  Gideon  (6^-^°)  and  Jephthah  (10^-^^),  brings  out  the  fact  that 
these  parts  of  the  work  are  not  entirely  homogeneous.  The 
numerous  repetitions  and  dupUcations,  and  the  differences  in  point 
of  view  and  phraseology,  which,  though  slight,  are  unmistakable, 
show  that  more  than  one  writer  has  had  a  hand  in  the  com- 
position.! Of  this  fact,  which  is  recognized  by  most  recent 
critics,  two  explanations  may  be  given.  One  is,  that  the  author  or 
editor  of  the  present  Book  of  Judges,  in  incorporating  2'''-i6'^^  in 
his  own  work,  dwelt  upon  and  emphasized  the  moral  lessons  of  the 
history  which  his  predecessor  had  enforced  ;  the  lack  of  unity  and 


275  f 


•  See  next  §. 

t  See  the  commentary  on  the  passages  indicated,  and  esp.  p.  63  f.,  175  f.,  181  f., 

r  f 


PRE-DEUTERONOMIC   BOOK   OF   JUDGES  xxi 

consistency  which  the  critics  have  observed  would  thus  be  due  to 
interpolation.*  The  alternative  hypothesis  is,  that  the  author  of 
2^-16'^^  used  as  the  basis  of  his  work  an  older  collection  of  tales 
of  the  Israelite  heroes,  in  which  the  varying  fortunes  of  Israel  in 
those  troublous  times  were  already  made  to  point  the  moral  that 
unfaithfulness  to  Yahweh  was  the  prime  cause  of  all  the  evils  that 
befell  the  people,  —  a  pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of  the  Histories  of 
the  Judges.t 

The  considerations  which  incline  the  balance  of  probability  to 
the  second  of  these  hypotheses  are  the  following :  {a)  The  ele- 
ments which  are  admitted  by  all  not  to  belong  to  the  principal 
Deuteronomic  stratum  in  the  book  do  not  seem  to  be  superim- 
posed upon  it,  but  embedded  in  it ;  and  they  are  more  intimately 
united  with  their  context  than  the  additions  by  which  later  editors 
often  try  to  heighten  the  effect  of  their  text  are  wont  to  be.  {d)  If 
the  author  or  editor  of  the  present  Book  of  Judges  made  all  these 
additions  in  2"-! 6^^,  we  should  expect  to  find  his  mark  upon  ch. 
17,  18,  19-21  also,  which  certainly  invited  a  moral  comment  and 
application  quite  as  much  as  some  of  the  stories  in  the  body  of 
the  work ;  but  no  trace  of  such  an  improvement  is  to  be  discov- 
ered in  those  chapters,  {c)  The  language  of  the  parts  of  the 
book  in  question  is  distinguished  from  that  of  the  Deuteronomic 
writers  and  editors  generally  by  a  more  marked  affinity  to  one  of 
the  older  sources  of  the  Hexateuch  (E) .  j  {d)  Some  of  the  tales, 
e.g.  that  of  Gideon  (ch.  6-2>),  are  composite;  two  somewhat  dif- 
ferent versions  of  the  story  have  been  united  by  a  third  hand, 
which  does  not  appear  to  be  that  of  the  author  of  the  book,  but 
of  an  earlier  redactor.  It  is  not  a  remote  conjecture  that  this 
redactor  is  also  the  author  of  the  non-Deuteronomic  element  in 
the  introduction  (2*^-3'^)  and  other  parts  of  the  book.  (<?)  The 
Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges  did  not  include  ch.  17,  18,  19-21  ; 
the  closing  formula,  15-°,  may  perhaps  be  taken  as  evidence  that 
it  did   not  contain  ch.   16;  §    8^'^  is  an  editorial   substitute  for 


*  So  Kittel,  Stud.  u.  Krit,  1892,  p.  44fr;  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  7-9.  To  this  later  hand 
he  ascribes :  iia.  4a.  8f.  gib-sa.  13. 17.  20-22  34-6. 31  67-10  io9-i6  (except  perhaps  v.iOa). 

t  We.,Sta.,  Bu.,  Dr.,  Co. 

X  Kitt.  accounts  for  this  by  supposing  that  R  (the  editor  of  our  Judges)  formed 
his  style  on  older  models.      ^^  Bu.,  Co. ;  against  this  view  see  Kitt.,  (niH.  i.  2.  p.  12. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION 

ch.  9,  which  has  obviously  not  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
Deuteronomic  author.*  But  ch.  17,  18,  and  the  primary  version 
of  the  story  in  ch.  19-21  are  akin  to  the  older  narratives  in  2^-16^^ ; 
ch.  16,  the  death  of  Samson,  is  unquestionably  from  the  same 
source  as  ch.  13-15  ;  ch.  9,  itself  composite,  is  too  closely  con- 
nected with  ch.  6-S  to  be  of  different  origin.  The  simplest 
hypothesis  is,  that  these  chapters  were  contained  in  the  earlier 
collection,  but  were  omitted  by  the  Deuteronomic  author  from 
his  book,  as  unsuitable  to  his  purpose. f 

The  older  book  seems  to  have  contaijied  the  histories  of  Shud, 
Deborah  and  Barak,  Gideon,  Abimelech,  Jephthah,  and  Samson  ;  J 
not  improbably  also  the  story  of  Micah's  idols  and  the  migration 
of  the  Danites,  and  the  original  form  of  that  of  the  Levite  and  his 
concubine.  In  what  order  these  stories  stood,  we  cannot  make 
out.  Chapters  17,  18,  and  19-21,  if  included  in  the  book,  would 
have  their  natural  place  near  its  beginning ;  they  certainly  cannot 
have  stood  where  they  now  do,  in  the  midst  of  the  history  of 
the  "  days  of  the  Philistines,"  between  Samson  and  EH.  Chap- 
ter lo*^-^^,  a  formal  and  extended  introduction  resembling  2^--^,  can 
hardly  have  been  designed  to  occupy  its  present  position.  § 

It  is  a  question  of  more  importance  whether  the  pre-Deutero- 
nomic  Judges  (to  use  this  name  for  brevity)  ||  contained  other  his- 
tories not  included  in  the  canonical  Book  of  Judges. 

The  death  of  Samson  (16^^)  is  not  the  end  of  a  period  or  a 
turning  point  in  the  history,  such  as  an  author  would  naturally 
choose  for  the  end  of  a  book;  nor  is  it  at  all  probable  that  a 
writer  who  begins  with  an  introduction  of  some  length,  setting 
forth  in  advance  the  moral  of  the  history,  would  bring  his  work  to 
so  abrupt  a  conclusion  without  a  word  of  retrospective  comment. 
It  has  long  been  noticed  that  in  i  Sam.  the  account  of  the  death 
of  Eli  (V^)  is  followed  by  the  words,  "  Now  he  had  judged  Israel 


*  Bu. ;  see  below,  p.  234,  238. 

t  For  a  different  hypothesis  see  below,  p.  xxxvi  f. 

X  There  is,  at  least,  no  apparent  reason  to  ascribe  any  of  these  stories  to  an 
independent  source. 

§  Sec  further,  below,  p.  xxiii  f.  For  conjectures  about  its  original  position,  see 
p.  276. 

II  Meaning  by  it  the  collection  which  preceded  the  Deuteronomic  Book  of 
judges,  26-168I. 


CONTENTS   OF  THE   PRE-DEUTERONOMIC  JUDGES         xxiii 

forty  years";  precisely  the  same  formula  as  m  Jud.  i6^\  cf.  12^ 
jq2.3  ^^d.n.ujf:  Of  Samuel  also  we  read  that  "he  judged  Israel 
as  long  as  he  lived  "  (i  S.  7^^)  ;  and  that  the  words  were  not  origi- 
nally meant  in  a  justiciary  sense,  as  might  seem  from  v.^^-^^,  which 
describe  his  judicial  circuit,!  is  manifest  from  the  preceding 
verses,  which  tell  how  he  delivered  Israel  from  the  Philistines  by 
the  great  victory  at  Mizpah,  concluding  in  the  same  way  as  the 
accounts  of  the  deliverances  wrought  by  the  judges  before  him  : 
"  And  the  Philistines  were  subdued,  and  did  not  again  come  into 
the  territory  of  Israel ;  j  and  the  hand  of  Yahweh  was  against  the 
Philistines  as  long  as  Samuel  lived  "  (7^").§  Samuel  was  thus,  in 
this  narrative,  the  judge  who  delivered  Israel  from  the  PhiHstines.|| 
In  I  S.  1 2  also,  Samuel  is  represented,  not  merely  as  a  prophet  or 
as  a  justice,  but  as  one  who  for  many  years  had  borne  rule  over 
Israel.  This  speech  of  Samuel,  which  contains  a  retrospect  of  the 
period  of  the  judges  (v.''^^),  and  solemn  words  of  warning  for  the 
future  under  the  newly  established  kingdom,  is  precisely  the  con- 
clusion which  we  desire  for  the  Book  of  the  Histories  of  the 
Judges,  corresponding  admirably  to  the  parting  discourse  of 
Joshua  (Jos.  24)  at  the  close  of  the  period  of  the  conquest.^f 
There  is,  therefore,  great  probability  in  the  opinion  of  Grat  and 
others  that  the  pre-Deuteronomic  Judges  included  the  times  of 
Eh  and  Samuel,  and  ended  with  i  S.  12.**  If  this  be  true,  Jud. 
jq6-i6  11  j^^y  originally  have  been  the  introduction  to  the  period  of 
Philistine  oppression  in  the  same  work.  |J  These  wars  were,  in 
fact,  and  in  the  historical  traditions  of  Israel,  the  beginning  of  a 
new  epoch ;  and  the  author  may  have  recognized  their  importance 


*  Kuenen  {HCO^.  i.  p.  353)  and  Wildeboer  {Letterkimde,  p.  274)  regard 
I  S.  4i8l>  as  a  gloss,  on  what  seem  to  me  insufficient  grounds. 

t  On  these  verses  see  below,  p.  113.  %  Of-  Jud.  320  8'28  ii33. 

\  Cf.  Jud.  2I8. 

II  Some  critics  connect  this  with  Jud.  135,  where  the  Angel  foretells  that  Samson 
shall  begin  to  deliver  Israel ;  see  p.  317. 

H  Cf.  also  2  K.  i7"-23  (Schrad.,  Kue.)  ;  Wildeboer  is,  however,  certainly 
mistaken  in  supposing  that  Jud.  26-3S  is  dependent  upon  2  K.  17  {Letterku?ide, 

p.  273)- 

**  Graf,  Gesch.  Bilcher,  p.  97  f. ;  so  Bu.     Kue.,  Wildeboer,  al.,  think  that  this  was 
true  of  the  Deuteronomic  Judges. 

tt  Excluding  Deuteronomic  additions. 

Xi  Bu. ;  see  below,  p.  276. 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION 

by  a  more  extended  introduction  than  those  which  he  prefixed  to 
the  other  "oppressions." 

The  pragmatism  of  this  work  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Deutero- 
nomic  Judges ;  in  it  also,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  non-Deutero- 
nomic  parts  of  2^-t,^,  and  lo^"^^,  in  6^~^°  and  in  i  S.  12,  the 
history  is  interpreted  and  judged  from  the  prophetic  point  of 
view ;  that  the  people  forsook  Yahweh  and  worshipped  the  gods 
of  Canaan  is  here  also  the  fo?is  et  origo  malorum  ;  in  it  the  con- 
flicts of  particular  tribes  and  groups  of  tribes  with  their  neighbours 
had  already  become  oppressions  and  deliverances  of  all  Israel, 
the  heroes  of  these  local  struggles,  the  judges  of  Israel.*  But, 
close  as  the  resemblance  is,  the  distinctive  Deuteronomic  note 
is  absent ;  the  standpoint  is  that  of  Hosea  and  the  prophetic 
historians  who  wrote  in  his  spirit,  rather  than  that  of  Jeremiah 
and  the  Deuteronomic  school. 

The  age  of  this  older  Book  of  Judges  is  fixed  within  these 
limits ;  it  may  with  considerable  confidence  be  ascribed  to  the 
7th  century,  perhaps  to  the  times  of  Manasseh. 

The  hand  of  the  author  of  the  older  Judges,  like  that  of  the 
Deuteronomic  writer,  is  recognized  in  the  introduction  and  the 
setting  of  the  tales  rather  than  in  the  tales  themselves.  The  ques- 
tion from  what  sources  the  latter  are  derived  is  only  pushed  back 
one  step  by  the  discovery  of  a  pre-Deuteronomic  collection.  The 
existence  of  composite  narratives,  like  the  histories  of  Gideon 
(ch.  6-8),  and  Deborah  and  Barak  (ch.  4),  shows  that  there 
must  have  been  more  than  one  such  source.  The  more  or  less 
strongly  marked  diversity  in  language  and  style  between  the 
several  stories  also  points  to  diversity  of  origin.  That  these 
sources  were  old  and  good  collections  of  the  national  traditions, 
the  character  of  the  stories  sufficiently  attests.  On  closer  inspec- 
tion, one  of  them  appears  to  be  more  ancient  and  of  greater 
historical  worth  than  the  rest.  In  some  instances,  as  for  example 
in  that  of  Samson  (ch.  13-16),  the  author  seems  to  have  known 
but  one  version  of  the  story,  which  he  has  given  entire  from  one  of 

*  The  chronology  of  this  book  was  different  from  that  of  its  successor ;  see  ^S  7. 
The  use  of  shophet,  and  some  other  words  and  phrases  of  common  occurrence 
such  as  V'-Jon,  yj^j. '  subdue,  be  subdued,'  probably  also  come  from  it. 


SOURCES   OF  THE  TALES   OF  THE   JUDGES  xxv 

his  sources ;  in  other  cases,  as  in  that  of  Gideon- Jerubbaal,  he 
united  as  best  he  could  two  somewhat  discrepant  accounts  ;  in  still 
other  cases  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  the  lack  of  unity  and 
directness  in  the  narrative  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  attempt  to  com- 
bine different  versions,  or  to  editorial  amplification,  or  to  subse- 
quent interpolations  and  glosses. 

These  phenomena  are  so  much  like  those  with  which  we  are 
familiar  in  parts  of  the  Hexateuch  where  the  Yahwistic  and  Elo- 
histic  narratives  (J  and  E)  have  been  united  by  a  later  writer  (Rje) 
into  one  composite  history,  that  we  can  hardly  fail  to  ask  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  similarity  is  not  really  identity ;  that  is,  whether 
the  pre-Deuteronomic  Judges  was  not  a  part  of  the  great  prophetic 
history  which  critics  designate  by  the  symbol  JE,  and  its  sources 
J  and  E.  That  this  is  the  case  was  affirmed  by  Schrader,  who 
attempted  to  separate  the  two  chief  sources  from  each  other  and 
from  the  Deuteronomic  elements.*  More  recently  Bohme  f  and 
Stade  I  have  demonstrated  the  affinity  of  parts  of  the  book  to  J 
and  E  respectively ;  while  Budde  has  taken  up  the  problem  which 
Schrader  first  attacked,  and  with  great  acuteness  has  worked  out 
an  analysis  of  the  entire  book.  §  On  the  other  hand,  Kuenen 
maintains  a  sceptical  attitude  toward  all  attempts  to  identify  the 
sources  of  Judges  with  J  and  E  in  the  Hexateuch,  ||  and  Kittel 
combats  the  hypothesis,  arguing  that  such  resemblances  as  exist 
are  less  decisive  than  the  countervailing  differences.^ 

Budde's  hypothesis  is  not  intrinsically  improbable.  There  is 
the  best  reason  to  believe  that  neither  J  nor  E  ended  with  the 
conquest  of  Canaan,  but  that  both  brought  the  history  down  to  a 
much  later  time,  if  not  to  their  own  day.  The  parting  speech  of 
Joshua,  Jos.  24  (substantially  E),  looks  not  only  backward  but  for- 
ward ;  it  is  the  end  of  a  book,  not  of  the  historical  work  of  which 
it  formed  a  part;  and  Jud.  2^"^"  (Jos.  24^"^^),  from  the  same 
hand,  is  unmistakably  the   transition  to  the   subsequent  history. 

*  De  Wette,  Einl^.,  p.  327-332.  For  earlier  critics  who  have  entertained  this 
opinion,  see  Wildeboer,  Letter kunde,  p.  168  f. 

t  ZA TW.  V.  1885,  p.  251-274.  t  2.^  TW.  i.  p.  339-343- 

§  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  1890.     Bu.'s  results  are  accepted  by  Co.,  Einl.,  ^  16. 

||//C02.i.p.3S5f. 

%  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  44  ff . ;  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  15-18.  So  also  Ko.,  Einl., 
p.  252-254,  Wildeboer,  al. 


xxvi  INTRODUCTION 

Jud.  I,  J's  account  of  the  conquest  and  settlement  of  Canaan,  is 
certainly  not  the  end  of  his  work ;  2^^-  ^^  here  also  lead  over  to  the 
following  period.*  It  is  antecedently  more  probable  that  these 
books  furnished  the  author  of  Judges  with  his  material  than  that 
they  altogether  disappear  at  the  beginning  of  this  period,  their 
place  being  taken  by  two  unrelated  sources  having  a  certain 
resemblance  to  J  and  E  respectively.t  It  must  be  acknowledged 
that  the  resemblances  are  less  marked  than  might  be  expected, 
and  are  accompanied  by  noticeable  differences.  But  it  should  be 
observed,  first,  that  the  ultimate  sources,  the  popular  traditions 
from  which  the  tales  of  the  judges  are  drawn,  naturally  had  a 
different  origin  and  character  from  the  legends  of  the  patriarchs 
in  Genesis  or  the  narratives  of  the  Mosaic  age  ;  and,  second,  that 
the  symbols  J  and  E  represent,  not  individual  authors,  but  a  suc- 
cession of  writers,  the  historiography  of  a  certain  period  and 
school.  I  The  differences  upon  which  Kittel  and  Konig  have 
laid  stress  are,  it  appears  to  me,  critically  of  less  significance  than 
the  admitted  resemblances.  Moreover,  the  problem  of  the  sources 
in  Judges  cannot  be  separated  from  the  same  question  in  Samuel, 
and  in  the  latter  the  indicia  point  to  J  and  E  more  clearly,  per- 
haps, than  in  Judges.  § 

For  these  reasons  I  have  used  the  symbols  J  and  E  in  the  com- 
mentary, to  distinguish  the  two  chief  sources  from  which  the 
narratives  appear  to  be  derived,  though  I  am  fully  aware  that  the 
question  of  their  identity  is  by  no  means  beyond  controversy.. 
Those  of  my  readers  who  are  not  convinced  of  this  identity  may 
regard  the  letters  J  and  E  as  equivalent  to  X  and  Y,  two  other- 
wise unknown  sources,  of  which  X  (J)  is  almost  everywhere  mani- 
festly the  older  and  historically  the  more  valuable.  The  author 
who  united  them  and  composed  the  pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of 
Judges  was  probably  one  of  that  school  of  prophetic  historians 

*  Cf.  also  J's  part  in  228-36, 

t  It  is  methodologically  an  unreasonable  demand  that  it  should  first  be  proved 
that  J  and  E  included  the  history  of  the  times  of  the  judges,  before  we  endeavour 
to  identify  them  in  the  Book  of  Judges.  What  other  proof  can  we  have  than  that 
we  can  trace  them  in  its  narratives  ? 

X  In  E,  for  example,  there  is  a  well-defined  secondary  stratum  (E2). 

§  We  have  seen  ncason  to  believe  that  a  considerable  part  of  i  Sam.  was  con- 
tained in  the  pre-Deuteronomic  Judges. 


J   AND    E   IN   JUDGES  xxvii 

who  are  commonly  represented  by  the  signature  Rje.*  His  hand 
may  be  most  distinctly  recognized  in  2-'-3'',  whe?e  the  conflicting 
representations  of  J  and  E  are  worked  into  one  another  with  free 
additions  by  the  redactor  in  a  way  with  which  we  are  familiar  in 
JE  in  the  Hexateuch. 

Tke  age  of  the  two  chief  sources  in  Judges  2^-16^^  cannot  be 
very  definitely  fixed.  There  are,  in  this  part  of  the  book,  no  allu- 
sions to  historical  events  of  later  times  which  might  serve  us  as  a 
clew.t  Almost  the  only  criterion  which  we  possess  is  their  relation 
to  the  religious  development.  In  those  parts  of  the  book  which  are 
attributed  to  J,  the  standpoint  of  the  narrator  is  that  of  the  old 
national  religion  of  Israel ;  there  is  no  trace  of  prophetic  influ- 
ence, and  we  can  have  no  hesitation  in  ascribing  this  source  to  a 
time  before  the  great  prophetic  movement  of  the  8th  century. 
Other  indications  point  to  a  considerably  higher  antiquity.  The 
stories  are  manifestly  drawn  from  a  living  tradition,  not  from  anti- 
quarian lore  ;  they  reproduce  the  state  of  society  and  religion  in 
the  early  days  of  the  settlement  in  Palestine  with  a  convincing 
reality  which  is  of  nature,  not  of  art,  and  exhibit  a  knowledge  of 
the  conditions  of  the  time  which  can  hardly  have  been  possessed 
by  an  author  of  the  8th  century,  after  the  changes  which  two 
centuries  of  the  kingdom  and  of  rapidly  advancing  civilization  had 
wrought.  On  such  grounds  we  should  be  inclined  to  assign  this 
source  to  the  first  half  of  the  9th  century,  a  date  which  is  entirely 
compatible  with  our  identification  of  it  with  J. 

The  second  main  source  from  which  the  tales  of  the  Judges  are 
derived  (E)  appears,  wherever  direct  comparison  is  possible,  as  in 
the  histories  of  Gideon  and  Abimelech,  to  be  younger  than  J.  It 
is,  however,  not  all  of  the  same  age.  The  older  stratum  does  not 
differ  very  greatly  from  J,  and  is  also,  in  all  probabihty,  pre- 
prophetic ;  the  later  stratum  is  strongly  tinged  with  prophetic 
ideas,  and  in  its  judgement  of  the  religious  offences  of  the  people 
prepares  the  way  for  the  pragmatism  of  the  Jehovistic  (JE)  and 
Deuteronomic  History  of  the  Judges.     So  closely,  indeed,  does 

*  This  symbol  is,  however,  not  very  satisfactory,  since  the  method  of  these 
writers  was  much  more  that  of  the  historian  who  largely  excepts  his  sources,  than 
of  the  redactor  who  merely  combines  and  harmonizes  them. 

t  On  1 830. 31  see  below,  §  5,  p.  xxx  f. 


xxviii  INTRODUCTION 

this  element  (Eo)  approach  the  standpoint  of  the  latter  authors 
that  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  decide  whether  certain 
passages  or  verses  should  be  attributed  to  the  one  or  the  other.* 
Fortunately,  the  similarity  which  makes  the  analysis  uncertain 
makes  it  also,  of  less  importance.  The  author  of  the  later  element 
in  E  (Eo)  may  have  lived  toward  the  end  of  the  8th  century  or 
in  the  first  half  of  the  7th.  f 

The  Triumphal  Ode,  ch.  5,  is  much  older  than  the  correspond- 
ing prose  narrative,  or  than  any  other  of  the  stories  in  the  book.  | 
Whether  it  was  included  in  J,  or  in  E,  or  in  both  of  them,  cannot 
be  certainly  determined.  The  closing  formula,  5^^^,  may  have 
been  added  or  transposed  by  an  editor.  The  Ode  was  in  all  prob- 
ability preserved  in  one  of  the  collections  of  old  Hebrew  poetry, 
such  as  the  Book  of  Jashar,  or  the  Book  of  the  Wars  of  Yahweh  ;  § 
but,  like  other  poems  from  those  collections,  may  early  have  been 
incorporated  into  the  prose  histories. 

The  brief  notices  of  the  so-called  Minor  Judges  (10^"^  12^-^^) 
begin  and  close  with  formulas  which,  while  they  have  a  certain 
likeness  to  those  which  introduce  and  conclude  the  stories  of 
the  other  judges,  have  also  a  distinctive  difference.  ||  Of  each 
of  the  five  we  read  that  he  "judged  Israel "  so  many  years,  but  of 
the  oppressions  and  deliverances  which  in  the  rest  of  the  book 
alternate  with  such  regularity  nothing  is  said ;  of  their  exploits 
there  is  no  record ;  indeed,  beyond  the  places  where  they  were 
buried  and  perhaps  the  number  of  their  posterity,  nothing  what- 
ever is  narrated  of  them.  Most,  if  not  all,  the  names  of  these 
"judges  "  appear  to  be  those  of  clans  rather  than  individuals  ;  and 
the  years  of  their  rule  seem  to  be  independent  of  the  chronological 
scheme  of  the  book  and  to  disturb  its  symmetry.  It  has  been  con- 
jectured that  the  names  were  introduced  by  an  editor  to  make  up 
the  number  of  twelve  judges  ;  %  and  Wellhausen  has  strengthened 
this  hypothesis  by  the  observation  that  the  sum  of  the  years  of  the 

*  It  is  not  impossible,  for  example,  that  in  the  introduction  (26-36)  a  part  of  what, 
with  Budde,  I  have  ascribed  to  E,  is  in  reality  the  work  of  Rje. 

t  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  "  commandments  of  Yahweh  "  are  mentioned 
only  in  2!"  34  ;  "  the  covenant  of  Yahweh,"  only  in  2^-  20  (Ko.,  £inl.,  p.  257). 

X  See  p.  127-132.  §  Compare  5I  with  Ex.  15I. 

II  See  p.  270  f.  %  Noldeke  and  many  recent  scholars. 


SONG   OF   DEBORAH.      MINOR  JUDGES  xxix 

Minor  Judges  is  almost  exactly  that  of  the  interregna  in  the 
general  chronology  of  the  period.*  The  mention  of  these  judges 
should  then  be  compared  with  similar  antiquarian  and  genealogical 
notices  in  Chronicles.  On  the  other  hand,  Kuenen,  remarking 
that  the  characteristic  formulas  of  the  Minor  Judges  stand  also  at 
the  close  of  the  story  of  Jephthah  (12',  cf.  also  15^  i  S.  4'^  7^^), 
and  rejecting,  partly  on  this  ground,  Wellhausen's  combination  of 
the  numbers,  is  of  the  opinion  that  these  five  judges  were  included 
not  only  in  the  Deuteronomic  Judges,  but  in  its  predecessor,  and 
are  thus  ultimately  derived  from  one  of  the  sources  of  the  latter 
work. I  A  third  hypothesis  is  that  the  Minor  Judges  stood  in 
the  pre-Deuteronomic  book,  were  omitted  by  the  Deuteronomic 
author,  like  the  story  of  Abimelech  and  perhaps  ch.  17-21,  and 
restored  by  the  editor  of  the  present  Book  of  Judges.  Beyond 
such  conjectures  we  can  hardly  go. 

§  5.    The  Sources  of  Judges^  xvii-xxi.  and  of  i.-ti.  j. 

The  two  stories  with  which  our  Book  of  Judges  ends,  that  of 
Micah's  idols  and  the  migration  of  the  Danites  (ch.  17,  18),  and 
that  of  the  assault  on  the  Levite  and  his  concubine  at  Gibeah, 
with  its  disastrous  consequences  to  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  (ch.  19- 
21),  were  not  included  in  the  Deuteronomic  Judges.  They  relate, 
not  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  the  foes  that  oppressed  it,  by 
the  hand  of  divinely  commissioned  champions,  but  the  fortunes  of 
,t:^a,tribe.VQne  of  which  was  compelled  to  leave  its  earliest  seats 
to  find  a  new  home  in  the  remote  north,  while  the  second  was 
almost  exterminated  by  the  righteous  indignation  of  the  other 
Israelites.  If  the  Deuteronomic  author  had  employed  these 
stories,  as  perhaps  he  might  have  done,  to  illustrate  the  moral 
and  religious  corruption  of  the  times,  the  natural  place  for  them  in 

*  See  below,  ^  7.  This  theory  is  adopted  by  Budde,  who  thinks  that  the  sherter 
formulas  in  which  the  names  of  the  Minor  Judges  are  set  are  patterned  after  those 
of  the  Deuteronomic  author  {Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  93  f.)  ;  cf.  also  Cornill,  Einl^., 
p.  97  fif. 

t  HCO^.  i.  p.  351  f . ;  cf.  p.  342,  354.  A  similar  view  is  maintained  by  Kittel, 
GdH.  i.  2.  p.  10  ff.,  except  that,  in  conformity  with  his  general  theory,  which  recog- 
nizes no  pre-Deuteronomic  editor,  he  supposes  that  the  smaller  Book  of  Judges 
(ri.)  was  one  of  the  immediate  sources  of  D. 


XXX  INTRODUCTION 

his  book  would  have  been  immediately  after  the  introduction  ;  a 
place  which  chronological  considerations  also  indicated.  There 
is  no  evidence,  however,  in  the  introductions  to  these  stories,  of 
any  intention  to  use  them  in  this  way.  The  familiar  formulas  of 
D  are  absent,,  nor  is  their  place  taken  by  others  which  might  be 
attributed  to  the  same  hand.  In  the  narratives  themselves  there 
is  no  trace  of  a  Deuteronomic  redaction. 

Whether  these  stories  were  contained  in  the  older  work  which 
the  Deuteronomic  author  used  as  the  basis  of  his  own,  we  cannot 
be  so  sure.  There  is  certainly  no  mark  of  the  editor's  hand  upon 
them,  and  it  is  conceivable  that  they  were  preserved  independently 
in  one  of  the  sources  of  that  collection.  This  would  account  both 
for  the  resemblance  of  the  stories  to  those  in  2®-i6^^  and  for  the 
absence  of  all  traces  either  of  Rje  or  of  D  in  them.*  But  in 
ch.  17,  18,  two  narratives  appear  to  have  been  combined  in  much 
the  same  way  as  in  ch.  6-8,  and  we  should  be  inclined  to  attribute 
this  fusion  to  the  same  redactor  (Rje).t  It  is  quite  possible  that, 
as  this  author's  work  was  considerably  more  extensive  than  the 
Deuteronomic  Judges,  he  may  have  found  place  in  it  for  these 
chapters. 

That  the  two  versions  of  the  story  of  Micah  and  the  Danites 
(ch.  17,  18)  are  derived  from  J  and  E  is  a  natural  conjecture. 
Budde  has  noted  several  words  and  phrases  in  one  of  them  which 
seem  to  point  to  E.  The  whole  impression  which  this  strand  of 
the  narrative  makes  would  incline  me  rather  to  ascribe  it  to  J  ; 
decisive  evidence  is  lacking.  However  that  may  be,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  primary  version  of  the  story  is  among  the  oldest 
in  the  book,  as  it  is  in  many  ways  one  of  the  most  instructive. 
The  second,  version  is  apparently  younger,  but,  if  I  interpret  it 
correctly,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  it  may  not  come  from 
E.  I  In  i8^"~^^  are  two  references  to  historical  events  :  the  depopu- 
lation of  the  land  (v.^),  and  the  cessation  of  the  temple  at  Shiloh 
(v.'^').     By  the  former  we  are  probably  to  understand  the  depor- 


*  That  J,  at  least,  survived  separately  till  a  late  date  is  probably  to  be  inferred 
from  the  preservation  of  ch.  i. 

t  Many  critics,  however,  think  that  the  appearance  of  duplication  is  due  to 
interpolations,'  rather  than  to  the  union  of  two  sources  ;  see  p.  366-369.  Ch.  19  is 
also  perhaps  composite.  +  See  p.  370. 


JUDGES   XVI  [.-XXI:    SOURCES  xxxi 

tation  of  the  inhabitants  of  northern  Galilee  in  734 ;  the  date  of 
the  latter  is  unknown.  The  older  narrative  in  ch.  17,  18,  to  which 
iS'^"  seems  to  belong,  can  scarcely  be  brought  down  to  as  late  a 
time  as  the  reign  of  Tiglathpileser ;  the  words  may  have  been 
added  by  an  editor.* 

The  problem  which  is  presented  to  criticism  by  the  narrative 
of  the  outrage  at  Gibeah  and  the  sanguinary  vengeance  which 
almost  annihilated  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  is  of  a.  different  kind  from 
any  other  in  the  Book  of  Judges.  At  first  sight,  the  narrative 
seems  to  be  not  only  entirely  unhistorical,  but  without  even  a  leg- 
endary ground  —  one  huge  theocratic  fiction  of  very  late  origin.! 
Closer  examination,  however,  shows  that  this  is  a  mistake.  The 
basis  of  the  narrative,  which  can  be  discovered  not  only  in  ch.  19 
and  21^^*^-,  but  in  ch.  20,  is  a  very  old  story,  having  an  obvious 
affinity  to  the  primary  stratum  in  ch.  17,  18,  and  in  tone  and  lan- 
guage resembling  the  most  ancient  parts  of  the  Hexateuch  and 
the  Books  of  Samuel.  This  is  overlaid,  especially  in  ch.  20,  2i^~^^, 
by  a  stratum  akin  to  the  latest  additions  to  the  priestly  history  in 
the  Hexateuch  and  to  the  Chronicles.  This  post-exilic  rifacimento 
is  clearly  dependent  upon  the  former  version  ;  the  only  question  is, 
whether  it  once  existed  separately  and  was  united  with  the  old 
story  by  a  third  hand,  |  or  whether  it  was  from  the  beginning 
merely  a  kind  of  midrash  upon  the  original  text,  in  part  exaggerat- 
ing it,  in  part  substituting  an  account  of  the  events  in  accordance 
with  the  author's  theocratic  conception  of  the  ancient  history.  § 
The  latter  appears  to  me  the  more  probable  hypothesis ;  but  the 
other  is  certainly  possible.  ||  The  primitive  story  is  hardly  inferior 
in  age  to  any  in  the  book,  and  may  be  derived  from  J.  The 
secondary  version  bears,  in  conception  and  expression,  all  the 
marks  of  the  extreme  decadence  of  Hebrew  literature,  and  is  a 
product  of  the  4th  century  B.C.  more  probably  than  of  the 
5th.  If  it  was  interpolated  by  its  author  in  the  earlier  narrative, 
as  we  find  it,  it  may  be  the  work  of  the  editor  who  appended 
chapters  1 7-2 1  to  the  Deuteronomic  Judges ;  on  the  alternative 
hypothesis,  the  same  editor  may  have  combined  the  two  versions ; 
but  other  explanations  are  also  conceivable. 

*  See  p.  399-401.  t  We.  %  Bu.,  Co. 

\  Kue.,  Kitt.,  Wildeboer.  ||  See  p.  405,  407  f. 


xxxii  INTRODUCTION 

The  Book  of  Ruth  relates  things  which  happened  "in  the  days 
when  the  judges  ruled  "  ;  in  the  Greek  Bible  it  immediately  fol- 
lows Judges,  and  in  many  early  enumerations  and  catalogues  is 
counted  as  a  part  of  Judges  *  Some  recent  scholars  have  thought 
that  this  was  the  original  place  of  the  book :  it  was,  like  ch.  1 7, 
18,  and  19-21,  an  appendix  to  the  Book  of  Judges  proper,  ch. 
i-i6.t  Ruth  is,  however,  in  subject,  language,  and  style,  unlike 
any  of  the  stories  in  Jud.  1-16,  or  in  17-21  ;  it  is  a  product  of 
a  much  later  age,  and  belongs  to  a  wholly  different  species  of  liter- 
ature. As  the  events  narrated  in  it  are  supposed  to  have  taken 
place  some  half  century  before  the  estabhshment  of  the  kingdom, 
its  natural  place  in  the  series  of  historical  books  was  between 
Judges  and  Samuel ;  or,  as  falHng  in  the  days  of  the  judges,  it 
might  be  appended  to  the  former  book  ;  but  this  connexion  was 
probably  never  universal,  and  may,  indeed,  have  been  peculiar  to 
the  Greek  Bible. 

Chapter  1^-2^  contains  an  account  of  the  invasion  of  Western 
Palestine  by  the  Israelite  tribes,  and  their  settlements,  particularly 
enumerating  the  cities  that  they  did  not  succeed  in  conquering, 
most  of  which  long  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  native 
Canaanite  population.  |  This  account,  which  in  historical  value 
far  surpasses  any  other  source  that  we  possess  for  this  period,  is 
manifestly  extracted  from  an  older  work,  and  Schrader,  Meyer, 
and  others  rightly  recognize  in  it  J.'s  history  of  the  conquest.  § 
The  narrative  has  been  considerably  abridged  by  the  editor  who 
prefixed  it  to  the  pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges,  ||  for  the  pur- 
pose, as  we  see  from  his  own  words  in  2^^-^'',  of  showing  how  Israel 
sinned  in  making  terms  with  the  people  of  the  land  and  leaving 
them  to  be  a  constant  snare  and  peril ;  it  has  also  suffered  to  some 
extent  from  derangement  and  interpolation,  whether  by  the  edi- 
tor's own  hand  or  that  of  scribes.     Fortunately,  the  motive  of  the 

*  So  probably  by  Fl.  Jos.,  contra  Apion.,  c.  8;  and  expressly  by  many  Christian 
Fathers. 

t  So  Stiihelin,  Auberlen,  al.;  see  esp.  Bertheau,  p.  290  ff. ;  cf.  also  Schrader  in 
De  Wette,  Einl^.  p.  395  f.  +  See  p.  3  fif. 

\  See  below,  p.  6  f. 

II  It  is  more  probable  that  2>\i-r>o.  is  by  an  editor  of  the  school  of  Rje  than  that  it 
is  from  the  hand  of  the  post-exilic  redactor. 


RUTH.     JUDGES   I. -II.  5  XXxiii 

recension  gives  us  confidence  that  he  left  intact  those  features  of 
his  original  which  are  of  chief  interest  and  importance  for  us, 
proving  that  in  the  invasion  the  tribes  acted  singly,  or  as  they 
were  allied  by  older  ties  or  common  interest ;  and  that  Israelite 
supremacy  in  Canaan  was  not  achieved  by  one  irresistible  wave  of 
conquest,  but  only  after  an  obstinate  struggle  lasting  for  genera- 
tions. Fragments  of  the  same  source,  some  of  which  are  a  wel- 
come supplement  to  the  narrative  in  Judges  i,  are  preserved  in 
the  Book  of  Joshua.* 

On  the  Minor  Judges,  see  above,  p.  xxviii  f. 


§  6.    The  Composition  of  the  Book  of  Judges. 

If  the  results  of  the  critical  analysis  outlined  in  §  4  and  5  are 
substantially  correct,  the  genesis  of  the  book  may  be  conceived  in 
some  such  way  as  the  following  :  t 

Early  in  the  9th  century,  the  traditions  of  the  invasion  and 
settlement  of  Western  Palestine,  of  the  subsequent  conflicts  in 
various  parts  of  the  land  with  the  native  population  or  with  new 
invaders,  and  of  the  heroic  deeds  of  Israel's  leaders  and  cham- 
pions in  these  struggles,  were  collected  and  fixed  in  writing,  prob- 
ably as  part  of  a  historical  work  which  included  the  patriarchal 
age,  the  migration  from  Egypt,  and  the  history  of  Israel  under  the 
kingdom  down  to  the  author's  own  time  (J) . 

Perhaps  a  century  later,  another  book  of  similar  character  and 
scope  was  written,  containing  in  part  the  same  stories,  but  in  a 
form  adhering  less  closely  to  historical  reahty  (E).  A  second 
recension  of  this  work  (Eo)  bears  very  distinctly  the  impress  of 
the  prophetic  movement  of  the  8th  century,  and  specifically  of 
Hosea's  teaching,  and  may  be  assigned  to  the  end  of  the  8th 
or   the   beginning   of  the    7th   century.     The   author's  religious 


*  See  p.  5  f, 

t  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  any  hypothesis  we  may  frame  is  much  simpler 
than  the  Hterary  history  of  which  it  attempts  to  give  account.  J,  E,  JE,  D,  R,  &c. 
represent,  not  individual  authors  whose  share  in  the  work  can  be  exactly  assigned 
by  the  analysis,  but  stages  of  the  process,  in  which  more  than  one  —  perhaps 
many  — successive  hands  participated,  every  transcription  being  to  some  extent  a 
recension. 


xxxiv  INTRODUCTION 

interpretation  and  judgement  of  the  history  in  the  spirit  of  proph- 
ecy is  the  beginning  of  the  treatment  so  generally  adopted  by 
later  writers ;  history  with  a  moral  soon  becoming  history  for  the 
moral. 

As  in  the  Hexateuch  and  in  Samuel,  J  and  E  (Eo)  were  the 
chief  sources  of  the  great  prophetic  historical  work,  JE.  Where 
the  author  of  this  work  found  in  his  sources  variants  of  the  same 
story,  he  combined  them,  sometimes  interweaving  them  so  closely 
as  to  make  the  strands  almost  inextricable,  sometimes  doing  Httle 
more  than  transcribe  paragraphs  of  J  and  E  alternately ;  adapt- 
ing his  method  to  the  material  before  him.  In  many  cases  he 
found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  bring  his  sources  into  harmony  or 
to  preserve  the  connexion,  to  insert  something  of  his  own ;  in  some 
places  he  added  with  a  freer  hand.  The  Book  of  Judges  in 
JE  *  seems  to  have  begun  with  the  death  of  Joshua,  and  to  have 
closed  with  the  great  discourse  of  Samuel,  i  S.  1 2,  a  division  which 
certainly  existed  in  E,  It  probably  contained  all  the  stories  in 
our  Judges  except  that  of  Othniel ;  and  in  view  of  the  character  of 
the  succeeding  redactions,  Rje  may,  with  greater  justice  than  D, 
be  regarded  as  the  true  author  of  the  book.  JE  is  a  work  of  the 
7th  century,  but  antedates  the  reforms  of  Josiah  (621  B.C.) 
and  the  dominant  influence  of  Jeremiah  and  the  Deuteronomy. 

Early  in  the  6th  century,  an  author  belonging  to  the  Deutero- 
nomic  school  took  this  work  as  the  basis  of  his  own.  As  the 
traces  of  his  hand  do  not  extend  to  i  S.  1-12  f  nor  to  Jud.  1^-2^ 
17-21,  we  infer  that  D's  book  included  only  Jud.  2*^-16^^  (or  per- 
haps 15^).  Eli  and  Samuel  not  unnaturally  presented  themselves 
to  his  mind  in  the  character  of  priest  and  prophet  rather  than  of 
judges ;  and,  if  historical  considerations  weighed  with  him,  he 
may  very  well  have  thought  that  the  life  of  Samuel,  from  which 
that  of  Eli  is  inseparable,  belonged  to  the  history  of  the  founding 
of  the  kingdom,  rather  than  to  the  preceding  period.  Besides 
Jud.  17-21,  it  is  certain  that  D  excluded  the  story  of  Abimelech, 
which  did  not  readily  lend  itself  to  his  moral  purpose  ;  8"^''^'  is 
his  brief  substitute  for  the  omitted  narrative.     He  may  also  have 

*  It  is  not  of  course  implied  that  its  author  gave  it  this  title, 
t  The  Deuteronomic  elements  in  i  S;  1-12  have  not  the  distinctive  signature  of 
D  in  Judges. 


COMPOSITION   OF  JUDGES  XXXV 

omitted  the  Minor  Judges,*  possibly  also  ch.  i6,  the  tragic  end 
of  Samson ;  this  would  account  for  the  premature  closing  formula, 
i5^^t  On  the  other  hand,  he  added  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from 
Cushan-rishathaim  by  Othniel  (3^'"),  as  a  typical  exemplification 
of  the  theory  set  forth  in  the  introduction  (2^-3'^),  and  perhaps 
with  the  additional  motive  of  giving  a  judge  to  Judah,  which  in  the 
older  book  was  almost  the  only  tribe  that  furnished  none.  The 
system  of  chronology  is  Deuteronomic,  as  appears  from  its  relation 
to  the  system  of  the  Books  of  Kings,  but  whether  in  its  present 
form  it  is  the  work  of  D  is  less  certain ;  see  §  7. 

Upon  the  general  introduction,  2^-3'',  as  well  as  upon  the  intro- 
ductions to  the  stories  of  the  several  judges,  D  impressed  the  un- 
mistakable Deuteronomic  stamp.  In  his  judgement  of  the  history 
he  had  been  anticipated  by  Eg  and  JE,  but  his  more  rigorous 
pragmatism  and  his  distinctive  style  can  in  most  cases  be  distin- 
guished with  sufficient  certainty  from  the  work  of  his  predecessors. 
In  2^-3'',  especially  in  2^'^^,  the  Deuteronomic  element  is  very 
closely  combined  with  the  older  text.  Budde,  whose  opinion  I 
have  followed  in  the  commentary,  I  thinks  that  D  did  not,  in  this 
somewhat  awkward  way,  intrude  his  own  point  of  view  into  the 
introduction  of  JE,  but  substituted  a  new  introduction  for  JE's  ; 
the  two  were  united,  to  their  mutual  detriment,  by  the  final,  post- 
exilic  redactor.  The  other  hypothesis  has,  however,  the  advan- 
tage of  simpHcity,  and  the  considerations  which  weigh  against  it 
are  perhaps  overestimated.  § 

The  Deuteronomic  Judges  did  not  supplant  the  older  work 
upon  which  it  was  founded;  JE's  history  was  in  existence  long 
after  the  exile.  In  the  5th  or  4th  century  B.C.,  an  editor  united 
the  two  books,  and  produced  the  present  Book  of  Judges.  In 
doing  so,  he  naturally  included  those  parts  of  JE  which  D  had 
omitted,  Jud.  1^-2^  9  17  18  19-21;  possibly  also  the  Minor 
Judges,  io^~^  12'^"^'^.  II  The  secondary  version  of  the  war  with 
Benjamin  in  ch.  19-21  is  perhaps  his  work;  and  in  other  parts  of 
the  book  traces  of  his  hand  may  be  discerned  in  minor  glosses ; 
some  of  these  may,  however,  be  of  still  later  date. 

*  This  depends  in  part  upon  the  decision  of  the  difficult  questions  of  the  chro- 
nology ;  see  ^^  7.  f  Budde.  X  P-  63  f., 
^  See  Kuenen,  HCO-.  i.  p.  339  f,  |)  See  above. 


xxxvi  INTRODUCTION 

On  the  critical  problems  discussed  in  §§  3-6,  see  in  general  Studer,  Richter, 
1835,  p.  425  ff. ;  Schrader  in  DeWette,  Einleitung^,  1869,  p.  327-333;  Well- 
hausen  in  Bleek,  Einl.^,  1878,  p.  181-203  =  Composition  d.  Hexateuchs,  u.  s.w., 
1889,  p.  213-238,  cf.  353-357;  V.  Doorninck,  Bijdrage  tot  de  tekstkritiek  van 
Richteren  i.-xvi.,  1879,  p.  123-128;  Berth eau,  7?eV/^/(?r  und  RutJfi,  1883;  Kue- 
Xi&Xi^  Historisch-critisch  (9«^<frzo^i,  i.  p.  338-367  (1887);  '^tvA^^,  Richter  und 
Samuel,  1890,  p.  1-166;  Driver,  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament,  1891, 
p.  151-162;  Kittel, "  Die  pentateuchischen  Urkunden  in  den  Biichern  Richter 
und  Samuel,"  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  44  ff.;  Gesch.  der  Hebrder,  i.  2.  1892, 
p.  1-22;   Kalkoff,  Zur  Quellenkritik  des  Richterbuchs,  1893  (Gymnas.  Progr.)^. 

The  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  Book  of  Judges  set  forth  in  the  preceding 
paragraphs  is  in  all  essential  features  that  of  Budde,  whose  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  the  critical  problems  of  the  book  has  been  of  the  greatest  value  to  me 
throughout.  The  reader  of  the  commentary  will,  I  trust,  discover  that  I  have 
not  accepted  Budde's  results  without  a  careful  re-examination  of  the  whole 
question;  and  in  many  particulars  I  have  been  led  to  form  a  different  opinion. 
Of  other  hypotheses  concerning  the  composition  of  the  book,  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  mention  those  of  Kuenen  and  Kittel.  The  former  thinks  that  Jud. 
2«_i63i  is  a  part  of  a  Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges  the  end  of  which  is  con- 
tained in  I  S.  7-12.  This  book  contained  all  the  stories  that  are  now  found 
in  the  chapters  named,*  with  the  solitary  exception  of  3^1  (Shamgar).  The 
introduction,  2^-3'',  is,  as  a  whole,  the  work  of  the  Deuteronomic  writer,t  who 
is  the  author  of  the  religious  pragmatism  of  the  book.  He  used  as  the  basis 
of  his  work  a  pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges,  in  which  Othniel  as  well 
as  Shamgar  was  not  included,  while  Abimelech  was  reckoned  as  one  of  the 
twelve  judges,  whose  number  was  completed  by  Samuel,  or,  more  probably,  by 
some  name  which  we  cannot  now  recover.  This  older  book  was  quite  differ- 
■ent  in  character  from  the  Deuteronomic  work;  it  knew  nothing  of  a  regular 
alternation  of  apostasy,  punishment,  and  deliverance;  it  was  a  series  of  portraits 
of  the  leaders  and  heroes  of  Israel  in  the  period  before  the  establishment  of 
the  kingdom;  but  the  unity  of  Israel  was  already  erroneously  antedated,  and 
its  deliverance  from  the  hand  of  its  foes  represented  as  Yahweh's  answer  to 
its  prayer.  The  author  drew  a  large  part  of  his  material  from  older  writings, 
some  of  them  of  Ephraimite  origin,  which  were  among  the  earliest  products  of 
Israelite  historiography;  but  the  book  itself  can  hardly  have  been  compiled 
before  the  first  half  of  the  7th  century.  Jud.  1^-2^  preserves  fragments  of 
a  very  ancient  account  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan  by  the  Israelite  tribes; 
ch,  17,  18,  is  also  a  very  old  story,  which  has  been  considerably  interpolated; 
in  ch.  19-21  the  old  narrative  has  been  thoroughly  worked  over  in  the  spirit 
of  post-exilic  Judaism.     These  chapters  were  united  with  2^-1631  by  the  last 

*  Including  the  Minor  Judges. 

t  It  has  suffered  somewhat  from  interpolations ;  and  in  3I-3  the  author  has 
incorporated  an  older  fragment  which  is  not  altogether  in  harmony  with  his  own 
view. 


COMPOSITION  OF  JUDGES  XXXvii 

redactor.*  Kittel  differs  from  almost  all  recent  critics  in  denying  the  exis- 
tence of  a  pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges.  The  author  of  the  Deutero- 
nomic  Judges  ("  Ri")  collected  the  stories  in  2*^-16^1,  combined  parallel  narra- 
tives (as  in  ch.  6-8),  and  embraced  them  all  in  his  rigorous  pragmatism  and  his 
schematic  chronology.  The  traces  of  a  different  conception  and  style,  which 
have  been  taken  as  evidence  that  this  author  worked  upon  the  basis  of  an 
older  book,  are  rather  to  be  ascribed  to  the  redactor  of  the  present  Book  of 
Judges  (R),  who  introduced  a  considerable  number  of  glosses  and  some  longer 
additions  to  the  text  of  "Ri."t  This  last  redactor,  who  also  joined  11-2^ 
17-21  to  2^-1631,  himself  belonged  to  the  Deuteronomic  school;  but  his  style, 
formed  on  older  models,  is  a  degree  nearer  to  that  of  E  in  the  Hexateuch 
than  that  of  "  Ri."  Kittel's  theory  thus  gives  us,  instead  of  JE  and  D,  a 
double  Deuteronomic  redaction  which  we  might  represent  by  D  and  Rd.  The 
sources  of  the  tales  are  not  J  and  E,  but  unknown  ancient  collections. 


§  7.    Chronology  of  the  Book  of  Judges, 

The  chronology  of  the  Book  of  Judges  presents  a  very  difficult 
problem,  on  which  a  great  deal  of  learning  and  ingenuity  has  been 
expended,  without,  as  yet,  leading  to  any  generally  accepted  solu- 
tion.    The  data  contained  in  the  book  itself  are  these  : 

YEARS 

1.  38.       The  Israelites  subject  to  Cushan-rishathaim 8 

2.  3I1.      Peace  under  Othniel J  40 

3.  3I*.      Subject  to  Eglon,  King  of  Moab 18 

4.  38^      Peace  after  the  death  of  Eglon  (Ehud)       . 80 

5.  4^.       Oppressed  by  the  Canaanite  king,  Jabin 20 

6.  5'5i.      Peace  after  the  victory  of  Barak 40 

7.  61.       Ravaged  by  the  Midianites  and  their  allies 7 

8.  8-8.      Peace  in  the  days  of  Gideon 4° 

9.  Q^'^.      Dominion  of  Abimelech 3 

10.  io2.     Rule  of  Tola •     •     •  §  23 

1 1 .  io3.     Rule  of  Jair 22 

12.  108.  The  Israelites  in  Gilead  oppressed  by  the  Ammonites  ...  18 

13.  12^.     Rule  of  Jephthah 116 

14.  129.     Ruleoflbzan t7 

*  Kuenen's  view  is  substantially  maintained  by  Wildeboer,  Letterkunde,  p.  165  ff., 
269  ff. 

t  Jud.    lla.  4a.  8f.  2lb-5a.  13.  17.  20-22  34-6.  31.  67-10  io9-16, 
+  ©ALM  £  ^o. 

\  A  few  Greek  cursives,  22.     Fl.  Jos.,  aiitt.  v.  7,  5,  omits  Tola  altogether. 
II  (RBPV  and  several  cursives,  60. 
H  See  Euseb.,  Chron.  ed.  Schoene,  ii.  p.  52,  53;  Jerome,  ed.  Vallarsi,  viii.  288. 


XXXVlll  INTRODUCTION 

YEARS 

15.  12I1.    Rule  of  Elon 10 

16.  121*.    RuleofAbdon *8 

17.  13I.     Domination  of  the  Philistines .  40 

iS.  152'^  ( 1 631).     Rule  of  Samson 20 

The  first  thing  that  will  be  noticed  in  this  table  is  the  fre- 
quency with  which  the  numbers  forty  (No.  2.  6.  8.  17),  eighty 
(No.  4),  and  twenty  (No.  5.  18)  recur  in  it.j  Each  of  the  greater 
judges,  except  Jephthah,  secures  his  country  from  the  attacks  of 
its  foes  for  forty,  or  twice  forty,  or  half  of  forty,  years.  This  phe- 
nomenon becomes  still  more  striking  when  we  observe  that  it  is 
not  confined  to  the  Book  of  Judges,  but  runs  through  the  chro- 
nology of  the  whole  period :  The  wandering  in  the  wilderness 
lasted  forty  years;  EU  judged  Israel  forty  years  (i  S.  4^*)  ;  | 
David  reigned  forty  years  (i  K.  2^^)  ;  Solomon  forty  (i  K.  11''-). 
In  I  K.  6\  finally,  we  read,  that  from  the  exodus  until  Solomon 
began  to  build  the  temple,  in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  was  four 
hundred  and  eighty  years.  §  It  is  obvious  that  we  have  here  to 
do  with  a  systematic  chronology,  in  which  a  generation  is  reckoned 
at  forty  years,  and  the  period  made  to  consist  of  twelve  gener- 
ations. II 

When  we  compare  the  numbers  given  in  Judges  with  the  total 

*  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  7,  15,  names  Abdon,  but  does  not  give  the  years  of  his  rule. 

t  Compare  also  No.  15  (ten),  and  observe  how  No.  3.  10.  11.  12  balance  on 
either  side  of  twenty. 

i  ©  20:  'A^©,  Fl.  Jos.  40. 

\  ©  440  (©L  'AS  480),  for  some  reason  reckoning  eleven  generations  instead  of 
twelve.     See  Preuss,  Die  Zeitrechming  der  Septuaghita,  1859,  p.  74  ff. 

II  So  Hecataeus  of  Miletus  attempted  to  construct  a  chronology  of  Greek  antiq- 
uity on  the  basis  of  the  genealogies,  reckoning  forty  years  to  a  generation ;  see 
E.  Meyer,  Forschungen,  i.  p.  169  ff. ;  GdA.  ii.  p.  8  f.  The  second  great  period  of 
Hebrew  history,  from  Solomon  to  the  return  from  Babylon,  is  also  four  hundred 
and  eighty  years;  see  Wellhausen,  Prol^.,  p.  283  ff. ;  Stade,  GVI.  i.  p.  89  ff.  In 
conformity  with  this  theory,  i  Chr.  63 ff-  gives  in  the  first  period  the  names  of 
twelve  high  priests  ;  in  the  second,  according  to  the  corrected  text  (see  (5),  from  the 
first  high  priest  who  officiated  in  the  new  temple  to  Jehozadak,  who  was  carried 
away  to  Babylon,  eleven.  The  four  hundred  and  ninety  years  which  Daniel  com- 
putes for  the  last  period,  to  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  the  saints,  is  of  almost 
exactly  the  same  length,  though  calculated  on  a  different  basis  (seventy  weeks  of 
seven  years).  On  the  frequency  of  40  in  chronologies  &c.,  see  Bredow's  Disserta- 
tio  de  Georgii  Syncelli  Chronographia,  pn  fixi-d  to  tlie  Bonn  ed.  of  Syncellus,  ii. 
P-  53  ff- 


CHRONOLOGY  xxxix 

in  T  K.  6\  however,  a  large  discrepancy  appears.  The  sum  of 
the  years  of  the  oppressions  and  of  the  judges  is  four  hundred  and 
ten  years.  To  this  must  be  added  the  forty  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness ;  the  days  of  Joshua,  from  the  invasion  of  Canaan  until  he 
and  all  his  generation  passed  away  (Jud.  2^"-^°),  for  which  no  num- 
bers are  given  (x)  ;  the  forty  (or  twenty)  years  of  Eli  (i  S.  4^^)  ;  the 
years  in  which  Samuel  judged  Israel  (i  S.  7^^,)  {y),  and  the  reign 
of  Saul  (i  S.  13^)  (z),  for  neither  of  which  have  we  any  data ;  the 
forty  years  of  David  (i  K.  2")  ;  and  four  years  of  Solomon* 
before  the  building  of  the  temple  was  begun  :  that  is,  40  -f  ^^ 
-|- 410  +  40 +j  +  s  +  40  +  4  =  534 -f  X +J+ s.  In  this  sum 
X  -\-  y  -\-  z  (Joshua,  Samuel,  Saul)  must  represent  a  considerable 
number  of  years ;  f  but  even  neglecting  them,  the  total  greatly 
exceeds  the  480  of  Kings.  Various  hypotheses  have  been  pro- 
posed to  bring  them  into  harmony.  One  way  by  which  this  can 
be  accomplished  is  to  suppose  that  the  oppressions  and  deliver- 
ances related  in  the  Book  of  Judges  were  not  successive,  but  in 
part  synchronous.  They  were,  in  fact,  without  exception,  local 
struggles  ;  and  it  is  not  only  conceivable,  but  highly  probable,  that 
while  one  part  of  the  land  was  enjoying  security  under  its  judge, 
other  tribes  were  groaning  under  the  foreign  yoke.  %  Thus  Herz- 
feld  supposes  that  for  one  hundred  and  seventeen  years,  from  the 
victory  of  Othniel  over  the  Aramaeans  to  the  beginning  of  the  Mid- 
ianite  forays,  the  history  runs  parallel ;  the  subjection  of  the 
southern  tribes  by  the  Moabites,  their  deliverance  by  Ehud,  and 
the  long  peace  which  followed,  falling  in  the  same  period  with  the 
oppression  of  the  north  by  the  Canaanites,  the  war  of  liberation 
under  Deborah  and  Barak,  and  the  forty  years '  security  which  their 


*  According  to  the  Hebrew  way  of  reckoning. 

t  Josephus  gives  Joshua  25;  Samuel  12;  Samuel  and  Saul  contemporaneously 
18 ;  Saul  after  the  death  of  Samuel  22.  The  Christian  chronologists  do  not  differ 
very  widely ;  Eusebius  gives  Joshua  27  ;  Samuel  and  Saul  jointly  40.  We  should 
hardly  say  that  these  estimates  are  excessive.  For  the  whole  period  Josephus 
reckons  592  years  {antt.  viii.  3.  i  ^  61 ;  x.  8,  5  §  147)  or  612  {antt.  xx.  10,  i  ^  230; 
c.  Ap.  ii.  2  ^S  19),  or  in  still  different  ways;  see  P.  Brinch,  Examen  chronologiae 
Flav.  Josephi,  c.  4;  Herzfeld,  Chronologia  judicum,  p.  12  f. 

X  On  the  considerations  which  may  be  urged  in  favour  of  the  hypothesis  of 
synchronisms,  see  Walther,  in  Zusdtze  zur  Allg.  Welthist.,  1747,  ii.  p.  400  ff."  (oi:ed 
by  Bachmann). 


xl  INTRODUCTION 

victory  gained.*  This  synchronism,  which  is  not  suggested  by  a 
syllable  in  the  text  of  Judges,  is  only  made  out  by  a  series  of 
arbitrary  assumptions,  such  as  that  nineteen  years  elapsed  between 
the  victory  of  Othniel  and  the  Moabite  invasion.  With  much 
greater  show  of  probability,  others  suppose  that  the  subjugation 
of  the  Israelites  in  Gilead  by  the  Ammonites  coincided  with  the 
oppression  of  their  brethren  in  Canaan  by  the  Phihstines.  Such 
an  hypothesis  not  only  offers  no  intrinsic  difficulty,  but  seems  to 
be  commended  by  Jud.  lo^"^,  where  we  read  that,  as  a  punishment 
for  their  fresh  defection,  Yahweh  sold  the  Israelites  into  the 
power  of  the  Philistines  and  the  Ammonites.  In  the  following 
chapters,  the  author  narrates,  first,  the  Ammonite  oppression,  the 
deliverance  of  Gilead  by  Jephthah,  and  the  rule  of  his  successors, 
Ibzan,  Elon,  Abdon  (ch.  ii.  12);  and  then  (13^)  takes  up  the 
story  of  the  long  struggle  with  the  Philistines  which  is  so  insepa- 
rably connected  with  the  beginnings  of  the  kingdom  in  Israel. 
The  forty  years  of  Philistine  oppression,  with  which  the  forty  years 
of  Eli  coincide,  thus  cover  also  the  eighteen  years  of  Ammonite 
rule  east  of  the  Jordan,  the  six  of  Jephthah,  seven  of  Ibzan,  ten 
of  Elon  (41),  while  the  eight  years  of  Abdon  would  fall  in  the 
time  of  Samuel.  In  this  form  the  hypothesis  was  proposed  by 
Sebastian  Schmid ;  t  and,  often  in  combination  with  other  syn- 
chronisms, has  been  accepted  by  many  commentators  and  chro- 
nologists.  I  In  this  way  the  length  of  the  period  is  greatly  reduced, 
but  the  exact  equation  with  the  four  hundred  and  eighty  years  of 
I  K.  6^  is  obtained  only  by  attributing  to  the  unknown  quantities, 
X,  y,  and  z,  in  the  other  member  entirely  arbitrary  values.  The 
most  serious  objection  to  the  synchronistic  hypothesis  in  any  form 
is,  that  the  chronology  of  the  book  is,  on  the  face  of  it,  continuous  ; 


*  That  the  twenty  years  of  Canaanite  oppression  and  the  forty  years  of  peace 
which  followed  fell  in  the  eighty  years  of  peace  which  the  south  enjoyed  after  the 
death  of  Eglon,  is  a  hypothesis  propounded  by  older  chronologists  (Beza,  Mar- 
sham)  .  Others  think  that  the  forty  years'  peace  under  Gideon  in  Central  Palestine 
coincided  with  the  forty  years  of  Barak  in  the  North ;  &c.  On  these  and  other 
theories  see  Ba.,  p.  64  f. 

t  Appendix  chronologica  ad  librum  Judicum,  1684. 

X  Vitringa,  Carpzov,  Marsham,  Walther  ;  Ke.,  Ew.,  Hgstbg,,  al. ;  most  recently, 
with  different  modifications  and  more  or  less  artificial  subsidiary  hypotheses, 
Bachmann  and  Kohler. 


CHRONOLOGY  xli 

if  the  author  had  intended  us  to  understand  that  the  Ammonite 
and  the  PhiHstine  oppressions  were  contemporaneous,  he  would 
have  given  a  much  more  distinct  intimation  of  his  meaning  than 
lo^^-,  and  have  given  it  in  its  proper  place  in  13^* 

Noldeke  has  tried  to  solve  the  problem  in  another  way.j  He 
observes  that  the  sum  of  the  rule  of  the  Minor  Judges,  including 
Jephthah,  is  seventy-six  years,  to  which  if  we  add  the  four  years  of 
Solomon  before  the  building  of  the  temple,  we  obtain  another 
eighty ;  a  coincidence  which  can  hardly  be  accidental,  and  which, 
if  designed,  shows  that  the  Minor  Judges  were  included  in  the 
chronological  system  of  the  book.  The  total  of  the  years  ascribed 
to  the  judges  and  kings  in  the  Books  of  Judges  and  Samuel,  down 
to  the  fourth  year  of  Solomon,  is  three  hundred  and  eighty.  J  To 
this  must  be  added  the  forty  years  of  Moses,  the  years  of  Joshua 
{x),  Samuel  (y),  and  Saul  (s).  For  Samuel  he  reckons  (from 
1  S.  f)  twenty  years.  We  have  thus  :  40  +  380  +  20  =  440  +  x 
4-  z.  In  this  system  of  forties  we  should  naturally  give  to  the 
unknown  quantities  (Joshua,  Saul)  twenty  years  each,  or  unequal 
numbers  together  making  forty,  obtaining  thus  exactly  the  four 
hundred  and  eighty  of  i  K.  6.  The  years  of  foreign  domination 
and  of  usurpers  are,  as  usual  in  Oriental  chronologies,  not 
counted ;  §  the  beginning  of  each  judge's  rule  being  reckoned, 
not  from  the  victory  which  brought  him  into  power,  but  from 
the  death  of  his  predecessor.  || 

In  principle,  this  appears  to  me  the  most  probable  hypothesis. 
I  should  be  inclined,  however,  to  divide  the  numbers  somewhat 
differently.     For  Eli,  instead  of  the  forty  years  of  5^,  I  should 


*  Compare  the  formal  synchronisms  in  the  Books  of  Kings. 

t  "  Die  Chronologie  der  Richterzeit,"  Uiitersuchungeii  zur  Kritik  d.  A.  T.'s, 
i86g,  p.  173  ff. 

X  Othniel  40,  Ehud  80,  Barak  40,  Gideon  40,  Minor  Judges  76  +  4  of  Solomon 
=  80,  Samson  20,  Eli  40,  David  40  =  380. 

^  §  Noldeke  makes  the  sum  of  these  years  94 ;  viz.  Cushan  8,  Eglon  18,  Jabin  20, 
Midianites  7,  Abimelech  3,  Ammonites  18,  Philistines  20  (deducting  the  twenty  in 
the  days  of  Samson,  Jud.  152^). 

II  This  is  the  method  of  Jewish  and  early  Christian  chronologers ;  see  Euseb., 
Chron.  ed.  Schoene,  ii,  p.  35 :  post  mortem  Jesu  subjectos  tenuerunt  Hebraeos 
aliengenae  annis  8,  qui  junguntur  Gothonielis  temporibus,  secundum  Judaeorum 
traditiones ;  and  so  in  every  following  case.  So  also  Seder  Olam,  c.  12,  and  the 
Jewish  commentators;  see  Meyer,  Seder  Olam,  p.  383  ff. 


xlii  INTRODUCTION 

adopt  the  reading  of  (3,  twenty.  The  forty  years  of  Philistine  rule 
coincide  with  the  time  of  Samson  (20)  and  Eli  (20)  ;  Samuel 
liberated  Israel  from  their  yoke  (i  S.  7).  Abimelech  is  not 
counted  in  the  succession  of  rulers,  as  Noldeke  and  most  recent 
chronologists  rightly  assume  ;  *  but  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  noted  that  the  same  is  true  of  Saul.  For  the  Judaean  author 
of  this  chronology  his  rule  was  illegitimate ;  David  was  the  imme- 
diate successor  of  Samuel. t  This  inference  is  confirmed  by  i  S. 
13^,  where  a  later  hand  has  attempted  to  supply  the  lack  of  a 
statement  about  the  length  of  Saul's  reign  with  the  usual  formula 
borrowed  from  the  Books  of  Kings,  %  but  seems  to  have  left  the 
numbers  blank. 

We  have,  then,  the  following  scheme  :  Moses  40  years,  Joshua 
x^  Othniel  40,  Ehud  80,  Barak  40,  Gideon  40,  the  Minor  Judges 
with  Jephthah  76,  Samson  20,  Eli  20,  Samuel  7,  David  40,  Solo- 
mon 4  =  400  ^^H-jj^^  480.  We  may  then  suppose  that  the 
author  gave  Joshua  and  Samuel  forty  years  each,  an  hypothesis 
which  in  each  case  has  some  slight  external  support.  Joshua 
lived,  like  his  ancestor  Joseph,  to  the  age  of  1 10  years,  which,  as  in 
Joseph's  life,  §  may  most  naturally  be  divided  into  30  +  40  -j-  40. 
To  Samuel,  of  whose  Hfe  and  work  he  had  such  a  full  account,  the 
deliverer  and  judge,  the  maker  and  unmaker  of  kings,  it  is  ante- 
cedently improbable  that  the  author  reckoned  only  half  a  genera- 
tion ;  especially  as  Samuel  was  an  old  man  when  he  died. 

If  I  K.  6^  is  the  summation  of  the  numbers  in  Judges  and 
Samuel,  and  from  the  same  hand,  it  would  follow  that  the  system- 
atic chronology  in  Judges  was  not  introduced  by  the  Deuterono- 
mic  author,  but  by  a  later  editor,  who  may  have  substituted  his 
own  cyclic  numbers  for  older  ones.  ||  But  the  author  of  Judges 
may,  himself,  conceivably  have  constructed  his  chronology  on  a 
basis  of  forty  years  to  the  generation.  In  either  case,  the  length 
of  the  oppressions,  and  of  the  rule  of  the  Minor  Judges  (with 

*  Probably  Jud.  9  was  not  contained  in  the  Deuteronomic  Judges ;  but  in  any 
case  he  wag  regarded  as  a  usurper. 

t  Observe  that  Samuel  ruled  Israel  as  long  as  he  lived,  i  S.  7I5. 

t  Not  the  formula  of  Judges  or  Samuel. 

\  Gen.  4i4C;  cf.  Gutschmid  in  Noldeke,  p.  192  f. 

II  The  76  years  of  the  Minor  Judges  plus  the  4  of  Solomon  would  be  the  most 
conclusive  evidence  of  this. 


CHRONOLOGY  xliii 

Jephthah),  which  are  at  least  not  primarily  cyclic,  probably 
represent  an  earlier  stage  in  the  history  of  tradition ;  the  latter 
may  be  derived  from  E. 

On  the  Chronology  of  Judges  see  S.  Schmid,  Comm.  in  Jud.,  1684,  p.  1569- 
1603;  Des  Vignoles,  Chronologie  de  Vhistoire  sainte,  1738;  o  Herzfeld,  Chrono- 
logia  judicwn  et  priviorum  regum  Hebraeorum,  1836;  Rosch,  "Das  Datum 
des  Tempelbaus,"  Stud.  u.  KriL,  1863,  p.  712-742;  Noldeke,  Untersuchtingcn 
ziir  Kritik  des  Alten  Testajuents.,  1869,  p.  173-198;  Wellhausen  in  Bleek, 
Einleitung^,  p.  1S4  i.^Coniposition  des  Hexateuchs,  p,  216  f.  (of.  p.  356); 
Prolegomena^,  p.  237  f.;  Reuss,  Gesch.  des  Alten  Testaments,  §  277;  Budde,. 
Richter  u.  Saf?mel,  p.  135  ff.;  Kohler,  Biblische  Geschichte,  ii.  i,  p.  35-5 1; 
Kittel,  Gesch.  der  Hebr'der,  i.  2.  p.  9-14;  of  the  commentaries,  especially 
Bachmann  (p.  53-74),  and  Bertheau  (p.  xi.-xvii.).  —  Wellhausen  notes  that 
the  years  of  the  Minor  Judges  (70)  almost  exactly  correspond  to  the  duration 
of  the  interregna  (71),  and  infers  that  the  Minor  Judges  were  introduced  by 
an  editor  who  did  not  reckon  the  interregna 'separately,  but  included  them, 
contrary  to  the  intention  of  the  author  of  the  chronology,  in  the  rule  of  the 
following  judges;  cf.  Prol'^..,  p.  237  f.;  Budde;  Comill,  Einl'^.  p.  98  f.;  and 
against  Wellhn.,  Kuenen,  HC(fi.  i.  p.  342,  Kittel,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  11-13; 
Wellhn.  himself  (^Comp.,  p.  356)  confesses  that  he  has  no  longer  much  faith 
in  such  attempts  to  solve  the  enigma. 

§  8.    Hebrew  Text  and  Ancient  Versions. 

The  text  of  Judges  has  been  transmitted  to  us  in  a  much  purer 
state  than  that  of  the  Books  of  Samuel ;  indeed,  it  is  better  pre- 
served than  any  other  of  the  historical  books  ;  but  it  is  not  entirely 
free  from  the  errors  which  are  incident  to  transcription.  The 
variants  of  Hebrew  manuscripts  seldom  enable  us  to  correct  these 
errors.  Setting  aside  the  great  mass  of  purely  heterographic  vari- 
ations, there  are  few  that  materially  affect  the  sense  ;  and  of  these, 
very  few  which  are  intrinsically  superior  to  the  Massoretic  text. 
The  critic  cannot  entirely  disregard  them,  however;  especially 
when  the  support  of  the  Targum  or  other  of  the  versi/Dns  shows 
that  the  reading  is  old.* 

*  For  the  Massoretic  text  (i)fil)  I  have  generally  followed  Baer,  Libri  Josuae 
et  yudicum,  1891.  The  admirable  edition  of  the  Bible  by  J.  H.  Michaelis  (1720) 
has  also  been  constantly  before  me,  and  I  have  derived  much  help  from  Norzi's 
critical  commentary,  Minchath  Shai,  in  the  Mantua  Bible  of  1742,  For  the  read- 
ings of  Hebrew  manuscripts  and  early  editions  I  have  relied  on  J.  B.  De  Rossi, 
Variae,  lectiones  Veteris  Testamenti,  vol.  ii.,  1785,  which  embodies  all  that  is  useful 


xliv  INTRODUCTION 

Much  more  important  aid  in  the  restoration  of  the  text  is  given 
by  the  ancient  versions.  First  among  these  in  critical  value  as 
well  as  in  age  are  the  Greek  versions.  I  say  versions  ;  for  Lagarde 
has  demonstrated  in  the  most  conclusive  way,  by  printing  them 
face  to  face  through  five  chapters,  that  we  have  two  Greek  trans- 
lations of  Judges.*  It  would  probably  be  going  too  far  to  affirm 
that  they  are  independent;  the  author  of  the  younger  of  them 
may  have  known  and  used  the  older;  but  it  is  certain  that  his 
work  is  not  a  recension  or  revision  of  his  predecessor's,  but  a  new 
translation.  One  of  these  versions  is  represented  by  the  great 
majority  of  manuscripts,  including  the  uncials,  Sarravianus  (^),t 
Alexandrinus  (^^),|  Coislinianus  (^),§  Basiliano-Vaticanus  (^),  1| 
and  many  cursives.  The  latter  form  several  well-defined  groups, 
some  of  which  may  properly  be  designated  as  recensions.  One  of 
these  (^)  is  represented  in  Judges  by  codd.  19,  108,  118  (Holmes 
and  Parsons),^  the  Complutensian  Polyglot,  and  Lagarde's 
Librormn  V.  T.  canonicoj-mii  pars  prior,  1883;  and  is  thought  by 
many  scholars  to  exhibit  the  recension  of  Lucian.  The  sec- 
ond (^)  is  a  group  whose  most  constant  members  are  codd.  54, 

in  Kennicotf  s  collations.  For  the  Massora,  besides  Jacob  ben  Chayim's  edition  in 
the  Venice  Rabbinical  Bible,  I  have  chiefly  consulted  Frensdorff' s  edition  of  the 
Ochla  we-Ochla,  1864,  and  his  Massoretisches  Worterbuch,  1876:  Ginsburg's  huge 
work  will  be  of  little  use  until  the  volume  of  apparatus  appears. 

*  Septuaginta  Studlen,  1892,  p.  1-72.  I  had  reached  the  same  conclusion  in  a 
paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature  in  May,  1890,  before 
I  learned,  through  a  letter  from  Prof.  Lagarde,  that  he  was  preparing  this  edition. 

t  In  Holmes  and  Parsons'  apparatus,  IV  and  V.  Hexaplar  manuscript  of  the 
4th  or  5th  century  (Tischendorf)  in  Leyden,  St.  Petersburg,  and  Paris.  Pub- 
lished by  Tischendorf,  Motmmenta  sacra  inedita,  iii. ;  the  Paris  leaves  by  Lagarde, 
Semitica,  ii.     Of  Judges  it  contains  :  g^S-ioC  153-18I6  1925-2112. 

X  Holmes  and  Parsons,  HL  Of  the  5th  century,  in  London.  Edited  by  Grabe 
and  successors,  1707-1720,  4  vols.  Type  facsimile  by  Baber,  1812-1828,  3  vols. 
Photographic  reproduction  published  by  the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum,  188 1- 
1883. 

^Holmes  and  Parsons,  X.  Hexaplar;  of  the  7th  century  (Holmes).  The 
collation  in  H.P.  is  to  be  controlled  by  that  of  Griesbach,  in  Eichhorn's  Reperto- 
rium,  ii.  p.  194  flf. 

|]  Holmes  and  Parsons,  XL  Of  the  9th  century  (Holmes),  in  Rome.  In 
Judges  it  lacks  i^^'-xZ^.  For  this  MS.,  H.P.  has  been  my  sole  dependence.  No 
significance  is  to  be  attached,  therefore,  to  the  absence  of  v  from  an  array  in  which 
it  might  be  expected. 

H  Of  these,  108  (Vaticanus  330)  only  is  complete  in  Judges;  the  others  have 
more  or  less  extensive  lacunae.    For  this  group  I  have  cited  Lagarde's  edition. 


TEXT  AND   VERSIONS  xlv 

59,  75,  82,  which  are  frequently  joined  by  others.  A  Leipzig 
palimpsest  (uncial)  published  by  Tischendorf  also  belongs  to  this 
group.*  This  hitherto  inedited  recension  exhibits  the  text  of 
Theodoret.t  A  third  group  {^)  consists  of  the  Venice  manu- 
scripts 120  and  121,  with  the  Aldine  edition,  which  is  derived 
from  them,  t  Most  of  the  translations  made  from  the  Greek  fol- 
low this  version ;  so  the  Old  Latin  (l),§  the  Hexaplar  Syriac  of 
Paul  of  Telia  (0),  ||  the  Ethiopic  (e),!  and  the  Armenian.** 

The  Hexaplar  codices  (Sp^i.^  ^j^^j  ^^q  Hexaplar  Syriac  show 
that  this  version  was  the  basis  of  Origen's  critical  labours.  It  is, 
therefore,  presumptively  the  oldest  Greek  translation  of  Judges ; 
and  in  so  far  as  "  Septuagint  "  is  equivalent  to  "  the  oldest  Greek 
version,"  the  text  of  ^  and  its  congeners  might  justly  lay  claim 
to  that  designation.ft  It  seems  to  me  desirable,  however,  in  the 
interests  of  clearness  that  the  name,  with  all  its  misleading  asso- 
ciations, should  be  banished  from  critical  use. 

The  other  version  is  found  in  the  Vatican  Codex  (^),  Cod. 
Musei  Britannici  Add.  20002  (^),U  and  a  considerable  group  of 
cursives  in  Holmes  and  Parsons  (^)  ;  viz.  16,  30,  52,  53,  58,  6^, 
77,  85  (text),  131,  144,  209,  236,  237;   the  text  printed  in  the 

*  Monumenta  sacra,  i.  p.  171-176.     It  contains  of  Jud.  ii24-34  132-20. 

1 1  have  projected  an  edition  of  it,  of  which  an  announcement  will  be  made  in 
due  time. 

X  I  have  not  compared  the  Aldina  for  myself,  but  have  relied  on  Holmes  and 
Parsons,  compared  with  the  collation  in  the  London  Polyglot,  vol.  vi. 

§  The  scanty  fragments  of  the  Old  Latin  were  collected  by  Sabatier,  and 
reprinted,  with  a  few  gleanings,  by  Fritzsche,  Liber  Judicum  secundum  LXX  inter- 
pretes,  1867.  More  considerable  additions  are  gathered  by  Vercellone  in  his 
apparatus  to  the  Vulgate  (ii.,  1864). 

II  This  version  was  made  in  the  year  616-617  A.D.,  in  Egypt,  from  a  Hexaplar 
codex ;  see  Gwynne,  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Christ.  Biography,  iv.  p.  266  ff.  Judges 
was  pubhshed  from  a  MS.  in  the  British  Museum,  with  a  reconstruction  of  the 
Greek  text,  by  T.  Skat  Rordam  {Libri  Judicum  et  Ruth,  i86i)  ;  and  by  Lagarde 
{^Bibliotheca  syriaca,  1892). 

H  Dillmann,  Octateuchus  aethiopicus,  1853.  Contains  a  collation  with  the 
Roman  text  of  ffif. 

**  I  am  unable  to  use  the  Armenian  version :  see  Lagarde,  Genesis  graece,  p. 
18  ;  Septuaginta  Sttidien,  p.  8  f. 

tt  Grabe,  Epistola  ad  Millium,  1705. 

Jt  Known  to  me  only  from  Lagarde's  collation  of  Jud.  1-5.  On  the  surmise  that 
a  codex  in  St.  Petersburg,  which  is  probably  part  of  the  same  manuscript,  contains 
the  text  of  Theodotion,  see  Lagarde,  Septuaginta  Studien,  p.  11. 


xlvi  INTRODUCTION 

Catena  Nicephori  represents  this  family.  Grabe,  in  1 705,  proved 
that  this  version  was  of  Egyptian  origin ;  *  a  conclusion  which  is 
brilliantly  confirmed  by  the  fact,  that  of  all  the  secondary  versions 
only  the  Sahidic  (k)  is  based  upon  it.f  As  the  quotations  in  the 
Alexandrian  Fathers  from  the  2d  to  the  4th  century  (Clement, 
Origen,  Didymus)  %  follow  the  version  represented  by  (^^  and  its 
congeners,  while  Cyrill  uses  the  text  which  we  find  in  (^^^^k,  § 
the  conjecture  is  not  remote  that  the  latter  translation  of  Judges 
was  made  in  the  4th  century;  but  much  remains  to  be  done 
before  any  positive  conclusion  can  be  reached. 

In  this  state  of  the  case,  I  have  thought  it  proper  to  adduce 
the  evidence  of  the  Greek  versions  with  more  fulness  than  would 
ordinarily  be  necessary  in  a  commentary.  If  the  Greek  version  is 
to  be  used  at  all  for  the  emendation  of  the  Hebrew  text,  it  must 
be  used  critically;  and  to  operate,  as  older  commentators  did, 
with  "  A  "  and  "  B,"  or  as  some  more  modern  scholars  do,  with 
Tischendorf's  reprint  of  the  Roman  edition  and  Lagarde's  "Lu- 
cian,"  taking  the  one  or  the  other  for  "Septuagint"  upon  the 
intrinsic  probability  of  readings,  is  not  a  critical  procedure.  || 

The  Latin  version  of  Jerome  is  one  of  the  best  specimens  of 
his  skill  as  a  translator ;  and  is  exegetically  of  the  greatest  value, 
because  it  gives  not  merely  Jerome's  own  interpretation,  but  that 
of  his  Jewish  teachers  and  helpers.  It  is  of  less  assistance  to  the 
textual  critic,  because  the  Hebrew  text  from  which  it  was  made 
was  substantially  the  Jewish  standard  text  which,  having  been 
authoritatively  fixed  in  the  2d  century,  a.d.,  has  been  transmitted 
to  us  with  great  fidelity.     For  the  Latin  text  itself  we  have  an 


*  In  the  letter  to  Mill,  cited  above.  Grabe  embarrassed  this  result  by  the 
assumption  that  the  version,  or  revision,  was  the  work  of  Hesychius. 

t  Ciasca,  Sacrorum  Bibliorum  fragmenta  copto-sahidica,  i.  1885.  Contains  of 
Judges,  1IO-21  i27_2i8.  +  Didymus  died  394  or  399. 

\  Cyrill  became  Bp.  of  Alexandria  in  412  A.D. 

II  On  the  Greek  text  of  Judges,  see  Grabe,  Epistola  ad  Millium^  1705 ;  Ziegler, 
Theologische  Abhandlungen,  i.  1791,  p.  276  ff. ;  O.  F.  Fritzsche,  Liber  Judicum 
secundum  LXX  interprctes,  1867  (distinguishing  three  types  of  text)  ;  Schulte,  De 
r est  i  tut  lone  at  que  indole  genuinae  versiotiis  graecae  iti  libro  Judicum,  1889 ;  Lagarde, 
Scptuaginta  Studien,  1892,  p.  1-72.  For  the  fragments  of  Aquila,  Symmachus,  and 
Theodotion,  Field,  Origenis  hexaplorum  quae  supersunt,  1875 ;  cf.  J.  G.  Scharfen- 
hcrg,  Animadversiones  quibus  fragmenta  versionum  graecarum  V.T.  .  .  .  illustran- 
tur  emetidantur,  ii.  1781,  p.  40-85. 


TEXT   AND   VERSIONS  xlvii 

excellent  apparatus  in  Vercellone,  Variae  lectiones  vidgatae  latinae 
Biblionun  editionis,  ii.  1864. 

The  Syrian  Vulgate  (Peshitto)  also  represents  in  the  main  the 
Hebrew  Standard  text,  and  is  of  more  importance  to  the  inter- 
preter than  to  the  critic.  For  the  Peshitto,  which  exhibits  a  con- 
stancy second  only  to  that  of  the  Hebrew,  I  have  compared,  in 
places  where  its  variations  seemed  to  be  significant,  the  editio 
princeps  of  Gabriel  Sionita  in  the  Paris  Polyglot  (<S^),  from  which 
that  in  the  London  Polyglot  (S»^')  is  derived  immediately,  and  that 
of  Lee  at  one  remove ;  the  photohthographic  reproduction  of  the 
Ambrosian  codex  (^'^)  ;  the  Nestorian  text  as  edited  by  Justin 
Perkins  at  Ooroomiah  in  1852  (^^)  ;  and  an  old  and  excellent 
manuscript  of  the  Historical  Books  and  the  Wisdom  of  the  O.T., 
of  Nestorian  origin,  belonging  to  the  Harvard  Semitic  Museum, 
Cambridge,  Mass.  (S"). 

The  Targum  is  seldom  of  much  critical  value,  but  often  serves 
us  well  as  a  commentary  upon  the  punctuation,  and  fills  an  impor- 
tant place  in  the  history  of  Jewish  exegesis.  Its  text  exhibits 
considerable  variation.  I  have  compared,  in  critical  places,  the 
edition  by  Felix  Pratensis  in  the  first  of  Bomberg's  Great  Bibles, 
15 18  (C^"-^),  that  by  Jacob  ben  Chayim  in  the  second  of  those 
Bibles,  1525  (C^°-^)  ;*  Buxtorf's  rifacimento  of  the  latter  in  his 
Great  Bible,  i6i8-20,t  reproduced  in  the  London  Polyglot;  the 
Antwerp  Polyglot ;.  and  Lagarde's  edition  of  the  Targum  from  the 
great  Codex  Reuchlinianus  at  Carlsruhe,  Prophetae  chaldaice,  1872 
^5[;reuch.^  I  also  collated,  in  1888,  Codex.  Brit.  Mus.  Orient.,  2210, 
a  manuscript  from  Southern  Arabia  with  supralinear  punctuation, 
dated  a.d.  1469  (E™).  t 

The  only  systematic  attempt  to  employ  the  versions  for  the 
emendation  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  Judges  is  made  by  A.  v.  Door- 
ninck,  Bijdrage  tot  de  tekstkritiek  van  Richteren  i.-xvi.,  1879. 

§  9.   Interpreters  of  the  Book  of  Judges. 

Of  the  Fathers,  the  nine  homilies  of  Origen  on  this  book,  which 
are  preserved  in  Rufinus's  Latin  translation  (Orig.,  Opp.  ed.  Dela- 

*  Known  to  me  only  in  the  edition  of  1547. 

t  The  punctuation  and  orthography  are  Buxtorf's  ;  nor  did  he  refrain  from  more 
serious  emendations.         %  See  Merx,  Chrestoviathia  Targutnica,  Proleg.  p.  xvi. 


xlviii  INTRODUCTION 

rue,  ii.  p.  458-478)  have  very  little  exegetical  merit.  Theodoret 
in  his  Quaestiones  {0pp.  ed.  Schulze,  i.  p.  321-345)  discusses 
with  some  fulness  a  number  of  the  more  obscure  or  difficult  pas- 
sages in  Judges  with  candour  and  skill.  His  extensive  quotations 
are  of  importance  for  the  history  of  the  Greek  text.  The  com- 
mentary of  Procopius  of  Gaza  (Migne,  Patrologia  graeca,  Ixxxvii. 
1041-1080),  though  fragmentary  and  largely  allegorical,  is  not 
devoid  of  worth.  The  Catena  Nicephori  (Leipzig,  1773)  draws 
chiefly  from  Josephus,  Theodoret,  and  Procopius,  but  quotes  also 
a  considerable  number  of  anonymous  Greek  expositions.  Augus- 
tine wrote  Quaestiones  on  Judges,  as  on  the  other  books  of  the 
Heptateuch  (Migne,  Patrologia  latina,  xxxiv.  791-824)  ;  so  did 
Isidore  of  Seville  {ib.  Ixxxiii.  379-390).  We  have  also  a  com- 
mentary on  Judges  by  Ephrem  Syrus  {0pp.  i.  p.  308-330). 

The  patristic  exegesis  had  only  the  versions  to  work  upon ;  the 
history  of  the  interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  text  begins  with  the 
Jewish  commentators  of  the  Middle  Ages.*  Of  these,  R.  Solo- 
mon Isaaki,  commonly  called  "Rashi"  (1040-1105  A.D.),in  many 
ways  deserves  the  foremost  place  which  the  judgement  of  Jewish 
scholars  generally  accords  him.  He  has  two  of  the  greatest  and 
rarest  gifts  of  the  commentator,  the  instinct  to  discern  precisely 
the  point  at  which  explanation  is  necessary,  and  the  art  of  giving 
or  indicating  the  needed  help  in  the  fewest  words.  He  had  an 
almost  unequalled  knowledge  not  only  of  the  Bible,  but  of  the 
whole  vast  body  of  Jewish  tradition.  His  interpretation  adheres 
more  closely  to  the  exegetical  tradition  than  that  of  his  successors, 
and  very  often  agrees  with  Jerome's,  that  is,  Jerome's  Jewish 
teachers.  R.  David  Kimchi  (ca.  1 160-1235)  gave  much  more 
prominence  to  the  grammatical  and  lexical  side  of  the  commenta- 
tor's task,  in  which  he  excelled ;  he  is  a  judicious  interpreter  and 
a  lucid  expositor.  Of  much  less  note  is  R.  Levi  ben  Gerson 
("Ralbag,"  died  ca.  1370),  whose  commentary  is  printed  with 
Rashi  and  Kimchi  in  the  Rabbinical  Bibles  of  Venice  and  Basel. 
Besides  these  are  to  be  named,  Abarbanel  (1437-1508),  whose 
very  diffuse  commentary  is  in  Judges  largely  dependent  on  Levi 
ben  Gerson  ;  f  ^i^d  Solomon  ben  Melech,  Michlol  Yophi  (Amster- 

*  Of  course,  the  ancient  versions  themselves  embodied  an  interpretation  of  the 
original  text.  f  I  have  used  the  cd.  of  Leipzig,  1686. 


COMMENTARIES  xlix 

dam,  1684),  a  convenient  exegetical  hand-book,  chiefly  abridged 
from  Kimchi. 

Through  the  Postillae  perpetuae  of  Nicolaus  a  Lyra  (ca.  1270- 
1340)  the  Jewish  exegesis,  and  what  was  even  more  important,  a 
sounder  exegetical  method,  passed  over  into  the  Church.  Later 
Catholic  commentators  of  note  are  Arias  Montanus,  De  varia 
Republica,  1592;  Serarius,  1609;  Jac.  Bonfrerius,  1631 ;  Corne- 
lius a  Lapide,  1642  ;  Th.  Malvenda,  1650.* 

Among  the  early  Protestant  commentators,  Sebastian  Munster 
(1489-155 2)  follows  the  Jewish  interpreters,  particularly  Kimchi, 
very  closely.  Drusius's  (i 550-1616)  learning  had  a  wider  range  ; 
besides  the  rabbinical  commentaries  he  made  good  use  of  the 
ancient  Greek  versions  and  the  Fathers,  and  deserves  the  praise 
which  R.  Simon  gives  him  as  the  most  learned  and  judicious  of 
the  interpreters  whose  works  are  collected  in  the  Critici  Sacri. 
The  fragmentary  annotations  of  Grotius  often  contain  interest- 
ing illustrations  and  parallels  from  Greek  and  Roman  writers.  Of 
all  the  older  commentaries  by  far  the  best,  and  one  of  the  most 
valuable  commentaries  on  Judges,  is  that  of  Sebastian  Schmid 
(1684).  The  author  brings  together  into  his  1642  solid  quarto 
pages  all  that  had  been  done  before  him  for  the  interpretation  of 
the  book.  His  own  exegetical  judgement  is  clear  and  sound.  In 
excursus  at  the  end  of  each  chapter  (  Quaestiones) ,  the  difficulties 
of  every  kind  are  discussed  with  great  thoroughness.  The  com- 
mentary of  Clericus  (1708),  a  work  of  a  more  modern  type,  is 
also  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem.  The  marginal  annotations 
in  J.  H.  MichaeHs's  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  (1720)  are 
excellent ;  nor  must  the  notes  to  J.  D.  MichaeHs's  German  trans- 
lation (1774)  be  passed  over.  Rosenmiiller's  Scholia  on  Judges 
(1835)  contain  very  little  that  is  new. 

The  modern  period  of  interpretation  begins  with  G.  L.  Studer's 
admirable  commentary,t  in  which  the  problems  that  the  book  pre- 
sents to  criticism  and  critical  exegesis  were  first  clearly  recognized, 
and  a  long  step  taken  toward  their  solution.  Bertheau's  commen- 
tary in  the  "  Kurzgefasstes  exegetisches  Handbuch  "  (1845)  is  a 
work  of  less  originality,  but,  especially  in  the  second  edition  (1883), 

*  Of  these  I  have  read  only  a  Lyra  and  a  Lapide.  Serarius  I  know  through 
Schnnid.  f  Das  Duck  der  Richter,  1835  ;  second  (title)  edition,  1842. 


1  INTRODUCTION 

fills  a  useful  place.  Reuss  has  given,  in  French  (1877)  and  Ger- 
man (1892),  brilliant  translations  of  Judges,  with  introductions, 
and  brief  but  excellent  notes.  Keil  (1863;*  2  ed.  1874)  has 
the  stamp  of  the  manufactured  article;  Cassel  (in  Lange,  1865  ;t 

2  ed.  1887)  is  full  of  curious  learning  and  ingeniously  perverse 
exegesis.  By  far  the  fullest  recent  commentary  on  Judges  is 
that  of  J.  Bachmann  (1868),  which  was  unfortunately  never  car- 
ried beyond  the  fifth  chapter.  The  author's  standpoint  is  that  of 
Hengstenberg,  and  he  is  a  stanch  opponent  of  modern  criticism 
of  every  shade  and  school ;  but  in  range  and  accuracy  of  schol- 
arship, and  exhaustive  thoroughness  of  treatment,  his  volume 
stands  without  a  rival.  Other  modern  commentaries  which 
require  no  special  note  are  those  of  Hervey  in  the  "  Speaker's 
Commentary"  (1872)  and  in  the  "  Pulpit  Commentary  "  (1881)  ; 
and  Jamieson,  in  Jamieson,  Fausset,  and  Brown's  "  Critical  and 
Experimental  Commentary."  A.  R.  Fausset's  Critical  and  Expos- 
itory Co?nnientary  on  Judges  (1885)  is  "expository"  in  the  homi- 
letic  sense,  and  "  critical "  in  no  sense  at  all.  The  German 
translation  of  Judges  in  Kautzsch's  Das  Alte  Testament,  1894 
(by  Kittel),  embodies  in  a  sober  and  conservative  spirit  the 
results  of  modern  critical  scholarship. 

*  English  translation,  Edinburgh,  1868. 
t  English  translation,  New  York,  1872. 


A   COMMENTARY   ON   THE   BOOK   OF 
JUDGES. 


A  COMMENTARY  ON  THE  BOOK  OF 
JUDGES. 


I.  l-II.  5.  The  conquests  and  settlements  of  the  Israelite 
tribes  in  Canaan. 

Literature.  —  E.  Meyer,  "  Kritik  der  Berichte  iiber  die  Eroberung  Palaes- 
tinas,"  ZATIV.  i.  1881,  p.  1 17-146;   cf.  Stade,  ibid.,  p.  146-150. 

K.  Budde,  •' Richter  und  Josua,"  ZATIV.  vii.  1887,  p.  93-166  =  Die  Bikher 
.Richter  latd  Samuel,  1890,  p.  1-89.  Other  writers  on  the  composition  of 
the  Book  of  Judges,  see  Introduction,  §  6,  end. 

At  the  opening  of  the  narrative,  we  have  to  suppose  the  Israelite 
tribes  encamped  in  the  plain  of  Jericho  (i^^  2^),  and  about  to 
invade  the  hill-country.  They  inquire  of  the  oracle  what  tribe 
shall  first  attack  the  Canaanites.  Agreeably  to  its  response,  Judah 
togeth«r  with  Simeon  begins  the  invasion  (v.^"^).  They  defeat 
and  capture  Adoni-bezek,  and,  advancing  southward,  take  Hebron, 
Debir,  and  Hormah,  making  themselves  masters  of  the  mountains, 
but  are  unable  to  conquer  the  coast  plain  (v.^"-^) .  The  tribe  of 
Joseph  invades  the  central  highlands,  and  takes  Bethel  (v.^-'^^), 
but  has  to  leave  many  strong  towns,  especially  along  the  Great 
Plain,  in  the  hands  of  the  Canaanites  (v.^^'-^).  In  the  north,  no 
conquests  are  recorded ;  the  Israelites  settle  in  the  midst  of  the 
native  population  (v.^''"^).  In  the  west,  Dan  is  crowded  back 
into  the  mountains  (v.^'^).  The  Angel  of  Yahweh  removes  from 
Gilgal  to  "  Bochim."  *  He  reproves  Israel  for  making  terms  with 
the  people  of  the  land  and  sparing  their  places  of  worship,  and 
foretells  the  consequences  of  this  disobedience. 

The  words  of  the  Angel  show  how  ch.  i  is  to  be  regarded  in 
its  present  connexion.      The  failure  of  the  invaders  to  conquer 


*  Perhaps  originally  Bethel,  (K ;  see  comm.  on  2>- 
3 


4  JUDGES 

the  whole  land  at  once  is  not  due  to  the  strength  of  its  walled 
towns,  or  the  superiority  of  their  inhabitants  in  the  art  and 
enginery  of  war,  but  to  Israel's  slackness  in  carrying  out  the  root 
and  branch  policy  enjoined  in  Ex.  34"'^^  23-'^^''-^^  Dt.  7^-^  &c.  As 
a  punishment,  Yahweh  leaves  the  Canaanites  whom  they  have 
guiltily  spared  to  be  the  cause  of  all  the  ills  denounced  in  those 
passages.  Their  religion  is  the  snare  into  which  Israel  is  ever 
afresh  falling.  The  repeated  apostasies  and  ensuing  judgements 
which  are  the  subject  of  the  Book  of  Judges  have  their  origin  in 
the  primal  act  of  disobedience,  that  Israel  did  not  exterminate  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land.  From  this  point  of  view,  ch.  i,  with 
its  long  list  of  cities  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  Canaanites, 
including  many  of  the  most  important  places  in  Central  and 
Northern  Palestine,  forms  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  present 
Book  of  Judges. 

It  had,  however,  no  place  in  the  original  plan  of  the  book,  but 
has  been  introduced  by  a  later  editor.  For,  a,  the  Introduction 
gives,  in  the  proper  place  (3^''^),  an  enumeration  of  the  native 
races  remaining  in  Canaan,  or  on  its  borders,  which*  makes  no 
reference  to  ch.  i  and  is  not  entirely  consonant  with  it.  b, 
Jud.  2*^"^'^  is  the  immediate  continuation,  in  sense  and  structure, 
of  Jos.  24^.*  The  intrusion  of  Jud.  i'''-2^  between  two  consecu- 
tive sentences  of  the  narrative  led  later,  perhaps  in  connexion 
with  the  division  into  books,  to  the  creation  of  a  new  close  for 
Jos.  24,  v.-'^'"^  being  restored  from  Jud.  2^"^,t  while  v.'*^--  ^^  are  frag- 
mentary notices  from  another  source  which  came  in  appropriately 
at  the  end  of  the  history  of  that  generation. 

The  whole  character  of  Jud.  1^-2^  gives  evidence  that  it  was 
not  composed  for  the  place,  but  is  an  extract  from  an  older 
history  of  the  Israelite  occupation  of  Canaan.  It  has  not,  how- 
ever, been  preserved  just  as  it  was  in  the  original  source.  The 
editor,  to  whom  its  value  lay,  not  in  what  it  told  of  the  conquests 


*  The  translations  of  Jud.  26  in  AV.  and  RV.,  which  conceal  this  fact,  are 
grammatically  false. 

t  A  careful  comparison  of  the  two  passages  will  show  clearly,  I  think,  that  this 
is  their  true  relation,  and  not,  as  is  still  commonly  assumed,  that  Jud.  26-10  -was 
borrowed  by  the  Deuteronomic  author  of  Judges  from  Jos.  242S-31.  Comp.  the 
somewhat  similar  case,  Ezra  i^-Sa  =  2  Chr.  36^^*-. 


L    i-IT. 


5 


of  Israel,  but  in  the  evidence  it  gave  of  the  incompleteness  of  the 
conquest,  that  is,  of  the  unfaithfulness  of  Israel,  has  apparently 
abridged  and  adapted  it  to  his  purpose ;  and  the  trace  of  still 
later  hands  is  probably  to  be  recognized  in  certain  additions  and 
changes. 

On  the  critical  restoration  of  the  chapter,  see  Wellhausen,  Einlciiung^, 
p.  \%\-\%i— Composition  d.  Hexat.,  p.  213-215;  E.  Meyer,  ZATJV.  i. 
p.  135  ff.;  Budde,  ZATW.  vii.  p,  94  ^.  =  Richter  u.  Sa77iuel^  p.  2  ff.  (cf. 
84-89);  Kuenen,  Historisch-critisch  Onderzoek,  i.  p.  356-358;  Kittel,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Hebrder,  i.  i.  p.  239-245. 

Ch.  i^"' is  an  editorial  title  corresponding  to  Jos.  i^;  v.*,  superfluous  and 
disturbing  by  the  side  of  v.^^  is  probably  secondary;  v.^,  an  interpolation 
induced  by  v.^\  directly  contradicting  v.^i  Jos.  15^3  cf.  Jud.  19IO-12  2  S.  5^^-; 
V.9  makes  the  impression  of  a  general  summary  by  a  later  hand;  v.^"-^°  are 
severed  parts  of  the  original,  which  may  be  restored  by  the  help  of  Jos.  I5^^'; 
V.I8  flatly  contradicts  v.^^,  and  is,  like  v.^,  ifi  conflict  with  the  facts ;  v.^i 
=  Jos.  15^3^  -vvith  the  change  of  the  original  Judah  to  Benjamin,  in  conformity 
with  later  representations  of  the  partition  of  the  land;  v.^^--^,  or  perhaps  -^-^^ 
originally  stood  after  v.'^.  The  story  of  the  conquests  of  Joseph  is  dispropor- 
tionately meagre,  and  has  very  likely  been  abridged  by  the  editor;  Budde, 
with  considerable  probability,  conjectures  that  Jos.  17^-18  Nu.  3239-  4i.  42  Jqs.  13I3 
originally  stood  in  this  connexion.  The  account  of  the  settlement  of  the 
northern  tribes  may  be  similarly  curtailed.  With  y?^^-  Jos.  \(f^  may  once 
have  been  joined.  In  oS'^,  only  v.^**-  ^'^,  "  The  Angel  of  Yahweh  went  up  from 
Gilgal  to  Bethel,  .  .  .  and  they  sacrificed  there  to  Yahweh,"  can  belong  to  the 
older  narrative;  v.^^-^'^'  are  in  the  characteristic  manner  of  the  redaction  of 
Judges.     On  all  this,  see  more  fully  below  in  the  commentary. 

Although  thus  by  no  means  intact,  the  passage  presents,  after  the  manifest 
interpolations  have  been  removed,  a  sufficiently  orderly  and  intelligible  con- 
nexion. Recent  criticism  has  thus  set  aside  the  hypothesis  of  compilation 
(Stud.;  cf  Preiss,  ZWTh.  1892,  p.  496),  and  must  qualify  the  strong  terms 
in  which  the  confusion  and  fragmentariness  of  the  chapter  has  often  been 
spoken  of,  e.g.  by  Kuenen. 

Fragments  of  this  narrative  are  also  preserved  in  different  places 
in  the  Book  of  Joshua:  Jos.  1513-1^  =  Jud.  iio-i-i;o.  ^^^  j^os 
=  Jud.  i^i;  Jos.  i6i°  =  Jud.  i-^  Jos.  i7"-i3^Jud.  i^^^  As 
these  passages,  which  in  Judges  stand  in  good  connexion,  are 
in  Joshua  broken  up  and  scattered,  fitting  so  loosely  in  the  con- 
text that  it  would  frequently  gain  by  their  removal,  and  strikingly 
at  variance  with  the  prevaihng  tenor  of  the  book,  the  explanation 
which  first  suggests  itself  is  that  they  have  been  inserted  in  Joshua 


6  JUDGES 

directly  from  Judges  by  a  relatively  late  hand.*  Against  this  must 
be  set,  however,  the  fact,  properly  emphasized  by  Budde,  that  in 
more  than  one  of  these  parallels,  Jos.  has  preserved  the  original 
text,  while  in  Jud.  it  has  been  intentionally  altered ;  see  especially 


10.  20. 19.  21 


This  is  better  explained  by  supposing  that  the  extracts 
in  Joshua  were  made,  not  from  Jud.  i,  but  from  the  history  from 
which  the  latter  chapter  was  taken.t  The  hypothesis  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that,  as  Dillmann  |  and  Budde  §  have  shown,  there  are 
other  passages  in  Joshua,  to  which  there  is  no  parallel  in  Jud.  i, 
which  are  almost  certainly  derived  from  the  same  source,  viz. 
Jos.  13^=^  (cf.  Jud.  I2--29.21')  1^47  ^^  ^^^^  espccially  ly^-^^H 

This  source  was  not  improbably  J's  history  of  the  conquest.^ 
The  author  of  the  Book  of  Joshua  uses  J  pretty  freely  in  the 
beginning  of  his  history  of  the  invasion  down  to  the  taking  of  Ai 
and  the  treaty  with  the  Gibeonites  (8.  9) ;  but  in  the  following 
chapters,  which  narrate  the  great  victories  of  Joshua  (10-12),  and 
the  division  of  the  land  (13  ff.),  he  abandons  this  source,  assum- 
ably  because  its  account  of  the  gradual  and  imperfect  subjugation 
of  Canaan  by  the  tribes  severally  was  irreconcilable  with  his  own 
unhistorical  representation  of  the  complete  conquest  of  the  land 
by  Joshua  at  the  head  of  all  Israel,  the  extermination  of  all  its 
inhabitants,  and  partition  of  the  conquered  territory.  Jud.  1^-2^, 
with  the  cognate  fragments  in  Jos.  13  ff.,  accords  very  well  with 
the  undoubted  excerpts  from  J  in  Jos.  1-9  ;  the  whole  tenor  and 
style  of  the  narrative  resembles  that  of  J  in  the  Pentateuch ;   as 


*So  Havernick,  Bl.,  Be.,  Mey.,  Kue.,  BCO^,  Reuss,  «/.  — On  the  relation 
between  these  passages  in  Jos.  and  Jud.,  there  are  other  special  investigations 
by  Welte,  1842;  Keil,  Z.  LuiA.  Th.  1846,  p.  i  ff.  The  hypothesis  that  Jud.  i  is  a 
compilation  from  the  Book  of  Jos.  (Stahelin,  Krit.  Untersuchiwgen,  p.  102  ff. ; 
Preiss,  Z  WTh.  1892,  p.  496)  is  sufficiently  refuted  by  the  facts  stated  above  in  the 
text.  Further,  Jud.  i  contains  other  matter  of  the  same  sort  {e.g.  v. —-27)  which 
has  no  parallel  in  Jos.  That  this  also  once  stood  in  Jos.,  and  was  omitted,  perhaps 
by  R<1,  an  alternative  proposed  by  Di.  {NDJ.  p.  442) ,  is  not  probable. 

t  So  Ke.,  Orelli,  Kue.,  HKOK,  Bu.,  Matthes,  Kitt.,  K6.  +  NDJ.  p.  442. 

\  Richter  und  Samuel,  p.  25  ff.  Cf.  also  Wellh.-Bleek^,  p.  182  =  Composition  d. 
Hex.,  p.  214. 

II  This  meets  the  argument  of  Kue.  {HCOf^.  i.  p.  358)  that  it  is  improbable 
that  the  editor  of  Jos.  should  have  independently  excerpted  from  his  source  exclu- 
sively matters  which  are  found  in  Jud.  i. 

H  Schrader-De  Wette,  Einleitung^,  p.  327,  Mey.,  Di.,  Sta.,  Bu.,  Kitt.,  Co. 


I.  i-li.  5  7 

particular  indications  may  be  noted  the  precedence  of  Judah,  the 
name  Canaanites,  the  resort  to  the  oracle,  the  Angel  of  Yahweh. 
The  only  positive  argument  of  considerable  weight  on  the  other 
side  is  the  meagreness  of  the  relation  in  Jud.  i,  the  almost  statisti- 
cal character  of  much  of  it,  in  contrast  to  the  free  and  vivid  nar- 
ration of  J.*  If,  however,  as  there  is  independent  reason  for 
believing,  the  editor  of  Jud.  i  has  greatly  abridged  the  older 
history,  this  loses  much  of  its  force. 

The  age  of  the  original  of  Jud.  i  cannot  be  certainly  determined 
from  anything  in  the  chapter  itself.  It  is  inferred  from  v.^^  (the 
Benjamites  live  with  the  Jebusites  in  Jerusalem  "unto  this  day") 
that  it  was  written  before  the  conquest  of  Zion  by  David,  2  S.  5  ;  t 
but  2  S.  24^'^^-  shows  that  the  Jebusites  were  not  expelled  by  David ; 
cf.  also  I  K.  9-°^-.  I  On  the  other  hand,  v.^^-  ^  describe  a  state  of 
things  which  can  hardly  have  existed  before  the  reign  of  David 
or  Solomon;  v.-^  (cf.  (3  and  Jos.  i6^°)  is  probably  to  be  read  in 
the  light  of  I  K.  9^^,  which  would  bring  us  down  at  least  to  the 
time  of  Solomon.  There  are  no  historical  references  in  the 
chapter  which  conflict  with  our  ascription  of  it  to  J. 

Whether  this  be  its  origin  or  not,  Jud.  i  is,  beyond  dispute,  one 
of  the  most  precious  monuments  of  early  Hebrew  history.  It 
contains  an  account  of  the  invasion  and  settlement  of  Western 
Palestine  entirely  different  from  that  given  in  the  Book  of  Joshua, 
and  of  vastly  greater  historical  value.  In  Joshua,  the  united 
armies  of  Israel,  under  the  command  of  Joshua,  in  two  campaigns 
(10.  11)  conquer  all  Palestine  from  the  Lebanon  to  the  southern 
desert,  and  ruthlessly  exterminate  its  entire  population.  The  land 
is  partitioned  among  the  tribes  (13  ff.),  who  have  only  to  enter 
and  take  possession  of  the  territory  allotted  to  them.  In  Jud.  i, 
on  the  contrary,  the  tribes  invade  the  land  singly,  or  as  they  are 
united  by  common  interest ;  they  light  for  their  own  hand  with 
varying  success,  or  settle  peaceably  among  the  older  population. 


*  Konig,  E'mleitiwg,  p.  252  f.  Konig  exaggerates,  however,  when  he  speaks  of 
Jud.  I  as  an  "  ungeschmiickte,  wortarme  Zusammenstellung  von  Thatsachen." 
Against  the  ascription  of  the  chapter  to  J,  see  also  Be,,  p.  xviii.,  a/id  Kue.,  II CO^. 
^-  P-  357-        t  Ba.,  Ke.,  Cass.,  Ko.,  with  Jewish  (Ki.)  and  older  Christian  scholars. 

t  Budde  ("  Critical  Notes  on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  Samuel ")  understands  2  S.  58 
itself  as  forbidding  the  slaughter  of  the  Jebusites. 


8  JUDGES 

The  larger  cities  with  few  exceptions,  the  fertile  valleys,  and  the 
seaboard  plain  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  Canaanites.  For  long, 
the  Israelites  were  really  masters  only  in  the  mountains  of  Central 
and  Southern  Canaan,  and  the  two  strongest  tribes,  Joseph  and 
Judah,  were  completely  separated  from  each  other  by  a  line  of 
Canaanite  strongholds  having  Jerusalem  as  its  salient.*  On  the 
other  side,  the  Great  Plain  and  the  fortified  cities  along  its  south- 
ern margin  separated  Joseph  from  the  tribes  which  settled  farther 
north. 

Which  of  these  two  conflicting  representations  of  the  Israelite 
invasion  is  the  truer,  cannot  be  for  a  moment  in  question.  All 
that  we  know  of  the  history  of  Israel  in  Canaan  in  the  succeeding 
centuries  confirms  the  representation  of  Jud.  that  the  subjugation 
of  the  land  by  the  tribes  was  gradual  and  partial ;  that  not  only 
were  the  Canaanites  not  extirpated,  but  that  many  cities  and 
whole  regions  remained  in  their  possession ;  that  the  conquest  of 
these  was  first  achieved  by  the  kings  David  and  Solomon.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  whole  political  and  religious  history  of  these 
centuries  would  be  unintelligible  if  we  were  to  imagine  it  as 
beginning  with  such  a  conquest  of  Canaan  as  is  narrated  in  the 
Book  of  Joshua.  The  song  of  Deborah  alone  is  sufficient  to  prove 
this  representation  altogether  false. 

From  the  place  in  which  it  stands,  and  the  fact  that  several  of  the  most 
important  things  related  in  it,  such  as  the  taking  of  Hebron,  are  also  narrated 
in  Jos.  in  connexion  with  the  conquests  of  Joshua,  Jud.  i  has  sometimes  been 
explained  as,  in  the  main,  a  recapitulation  of  events  which  happened  in  the 
lifetime  of  Joshua.  So  Thdt,,  quaest,  7  (cf.  i),  Ki.,  Abarb.,  Cler.,  Schm., 
Ziegler,  Hgstb.,  Bohl,  But,  as  has  been  observed  above,  the  parallel  passages 
in  Joshua  are  not  an  organic  part  of  that  book,  with  whose  entire  conception 
of  the  character  of  the  conquest  they  but  ill  accord,  and  therefore  their 
position  does  not  prove  that  the  events  they  relate  occurred  at  the  time  to 
which  they  are  ascribed  by  their  present  context.  Others,  following  the  title, 
\M,  put  the  events  related  in  Jud.  i  "  after  the  death  of  Joshua."  f    So  among 

*  The  cities  named  in  Jud.  i35,  and  those  of  the  Gibeonite  confederation, 
Jos.  9I7  ;  see  Stade,  ZA  TW.  i.  p.  147  ;  Budde,  Richter  mid  Samuel,  p.  17. 

t  The  parallels  in  Jos.  are  then  explained  as  anticipatory;  that  is,  the  author 
of  that  book,  in  narrating  the  conquests  of  Israel,  for  the  sake  of  completeness, 
introduced,  out  of  their  chronological  order,  certain  things  which  were  not  accom- 
plished till  a  later  time;  Aug.,  quaest.,  3  (but  cf.  6),  Glossa  ord.,  Ra;  RLbG.,  Brenz, 
Ba.,  al.    Others,  while  putting  the  greater  part  of  the  chapter  after  the  death  of 


I.  i-II.  5  9 

modern  scholars,  Ke.,  Ba.,  Be,  Cass.  This  title  of  the  canonical  editor  (see 
comm.)  is,  however,  of  no  authority.  In  point  of  fact,  the  situation  pre- 
supposed in  Jud.  I  and  the  invasion  there  described,  is,  in  its  character  and 
results,  inconceivable  if  the  land  in  all  its  length  and  breadth  had  already 
been  conquered  and  its  inhabitants  exterminated  by  Joshua.  We  require, 
at  least,  some  reference  to  the  revolution  by  which  all  the  results  of  Joshua's 
wars  were  lost;  we  must  know  who  sowed  the  land  with  dragon's  teeth,  that 
in  the  place  of  the  population  which  Joshua  destroyed,  —  man,  woman,  and 
child,  —  another  generation  better  able  to  defend  its  own  sprang  up  in  a  night. 
In  default  of  this,  the  commentators  and  historians  who  treat  Jud.  I  as  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  history  of  the  conquest  after  the  death  of  Joshua  are  con- 
strained to  reduce  to  the  uttermost  the  extent  and  importance  of  Joshua's 
victories.  These  victories,  it  is  said,  broke  the  power  of  the  Canaanite 
confederacies  in  the  north  and  south,  so  that  they  no  longer  presented  a 
formidable  front  in  the  field,  but  by  no  means  resulted  in  the  subjugation  of 
all  Canaan.  The  fortified  towns  defied  the  invaders,  or  were  speedily  recov- 
ered by  them.  All  over  the. land,  as  soon  as  the  first  wave  of  conquest  passed, 
the  Canaanites  raised  their  heads  again.  The  reduction  of  the  strongholds, 
and  the  occupation  of  the  territory  allotted  to  each,  was  left  to  the  tribes 
severally.  In  this  task,  some  were  more  persistent  and  successful  than 
others;  some  soon  came  to  terms  with  the  people  of  the  land.  It  is  this 
phase  of  the  struggle  that  is  described  in  Jud.  i.  The  harmony  thus  estab- 
lished between  Jos.  and  Jud.  is  only  attained  by  substituting  for  the  story  of 
the  conquest  in  Jos.  10-12  a  rationalistic  version  which  is  as  irreconcilable 
with  the  text  of  Jos.  as  Jud.  i  itself.  Of  such  fruitless  victories  as  left  all  the 
work  to  be  done  over,  of  strongholds  unsubdued,  or  Canaanites  left  to  garrison 
them,  the  Book  of  Joshua  knows  nothing.  The  register  of  Joshua's  conquests, 
the  cities  which  he  gave  to  the  tribes  of  Israel  for  a  possession  (ch.  12), 
contains  not  only  the  names  of  the  cities  which  in  Jud.  I  are  taken  by  the 
several  tribes  (Hebron,  Debir,  Bethel),  but  of  the  far  more  numerous  cities 
which,  as  we  know  both  from  Jud.  I  and  the  later  history,  remained  Canaanite 
for  generations,  —  Jerusalem,  Gezer,  Taanach,  Megiddo,  etc. 

Jud.  I  can  therefore  only  be  understood  as  a  history  of  the  first  conquests 
and  settlements  of  the  Israelite  tribes  in  Western  Palestine,  a  counterpart  to 
the  Book  of  Joshua,  whose  representation  it  contravenes  at  all  essential  points. 
So  Stud.,  We.,  Mey.,  Sta.,  GVI.  I.  p.  66  i.;   Kue.,  Bu.,  Kitt.,  Dr.,  Co. 

In  spite  of  the  fundamental  contradiction,  there  are  striking  agreements 
between  the  story  of  the  conquest  in  Jos.  and  Jud.  I.  The  struggle  begins  in 
the  south  (Adoni-zedek,  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  Adoni-bezek,  who  dies  at 
Jerusalem) ;  the  settlement  of  Judah  and  its  affined  clans  is  followed  by  that 
of  Joseph  (Jos.  146-15  \^-^--  ^^-^^  i6iff-  I'j^^-^^')  ;  the  other  tribes  are  provided  for 

Joshua,  have  referred  certain  of  the  events  narrated  in  it  to  tlie  last  years  of  his 
life ;  so  Chytraeus  (v.8-iG)^  Eichh.  (v.i0-i5),  Schnurrer  (v.Wff-  '^^)  ;  or  without  attempt- 
ing to  discriminate,  v.  Lengerke,  Wahl. 


lO  JUDGES 

later,  and  their  standing  is  different  from  that  of  the  great  southern  and  central 
tribes  (Jos.  iS^^-).  Jos.  ii  is  unquestionably  related  to  Jud.  4  (Jabin  of 
Hazor),  as  Jos.  10  is  to  Jud.  i^-^.  The  account  of  the  conquest  in  Joshua  is 
the  product  of  successive  theological  reconstructions  of  the  history.  Its  basis 
seems  to  have  been  a  relation  closely  akin  to  the  original  of  Jud.  i,  if  not 
identical  with  it;  but  this  historical  basis  is  completely  transformed  by  the 
ascription  of  the  doings  of  the  several  tribes  to  all  Israel,  and  of  the  events 
of  succeeding  generations  to  the  first  period  of  the  invasion,  and  by  the 
substitution  of  the  theological  ideal  of  a  conquest  by  the  people  of  Yahweh 
for  the  sober  reality. 

I  la.  "miQ.  —  After  the  death  of  Joshica]  cf.  Jos.  i\  From 
the  hand  of  the  canonical  editor  to  divide  the  books  of  Jos.  and 
Jud.*  The  death  of  Joshua  marked  the  close  of  the  period  of 
conquest,  as  that  of  Moses  (Dt.  34'^^)  the  end  of  the  Exodus  and 
wandering.  The  division  is  therefore  a  natural  one,  and  the  title 
stands  in  a  suitable  place  after  Jos.  24-^-^.1  What  immediately 
follows,  however  (i^^-2'^),  does  not  relate  things  which  took  place 
after  the  death  of  Joshua,  but  is  an  account  of  the  invasion  of 
Canaan  and  its  results,  running  parallel  to  Jos.,  but  giving  a  wholly 
different  representation ;  see  above,  p.  7-9. 

I.  1^-8.  The  Israelites  inquire  of  the  oracle  what  tribe  shall 
first  attack  the  Canaanites.  Judah  is  designated,  and,  making 
common  cause  with  Simeon,  invades  the  land.  They  defeat  and 
capture  Adoni-bezek. 

The  original  connexion  of  i^^  is  lost.  It  must  have  been  pre- 
ceded at  least  by  an  account  of  the  passage  of  the  Jordan  and  the 
taking  of  Jericho,  the  remains  of  which  are  probably  still  to  be 
recognized  in  the  composite  narrative  in  Jos. ;  perhaps  also  by  a 
preliminary  division  of  the  land  to  be  conquered  (v.^).  Whether 
we  should  also  include  an  account  of  the  operations  against  Ai 
(Jos.  8)  and  the  oldest  version  of  the  ruse  of  the  Gibeonites 
(Jos.  9)  is  more  doubtful.  $ 

*  See  Doom.  p.  17,  and  esp.  Paine,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  1891,  p.  652  ff.  A  some- 
what similar  suggestion  is  made  by  Ziegler,  Theol.  Abhandlungen,  i.  (1791),  p.  282. 

t  This  ending  of  Jos.  24  is,  however,  itself  probably  restored  by  the  editor  from 
Jud.  a'^-io ;  see  above,  p.  4.  The  natural  place  for  the  title  in  the  original  context 
would  be  before  Jud.  211. 

X  See  on  these  questions,  Mey.,  ZATW.  i.  p.  136;  Bu.,  Richtcr  und  Samuel, 
p.  50  ff.;  Kitt.,  GdJJ.  i.  i.  p.  245  ff. 


I.I.  II 

1.  The  Israelites  inquii-ed  of  Ya/nueli]  consulted  the  oracle  of 
Y. ;  cf.  i8^.  The  phrase  does  not  occur  m  the  Hexateuch,  in 
which  the  only  reference  to  the  consultation  of  the  oracle  (Nu.  27-' 
Po)  is  differently  expressed.  It  is  used  not  only  of  the  oracle  of 
Yahweh,  but  of  a  *  stock  '  (Hos.  4^")  ;  teraphim  (Ez.  21-'^)  ;  manes 
(i  Chr.  10^^).  It  is  natural  here  to  think  of  the  priestly  oracle  (18^ 
I  S.  22^^"^^-^'^),  by  the  ephod  (i  S.  23^  30^) j  or  urim  and  thummim 
(i  S.  14'*^  (Jp).  As  in  the  Pentateuch  the  latter  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  High  Priest  only,  Jewish  and  many  Christian  interpreters  have 
inferred  that  the  response  on  this  occasion  was  given  by  Phineas, 
son  of  Eleazar,*  but  it  is  unsafe  to  ascribe  this  intention  to  the 
author,  who  more  probably  has  in  mind  the  oracle  at  Gilgal  (2^), 
long  one  of  the  most  frequented  holy  places.  The  Israelites  are, 
of  course,  the  tribes  which  settled  west  of  the  Jordan,  t  The  story 
supposes  them  encamped  together  in  the  plain  near  Jericho  (i^^) 
and  Gilgal  (2^),  from  which  point  they  separate,  Judah  and  Simeon 
to  invade  the  south,  Joseph  to  occupy  the  central  highlands. 

That  the  tribes,  which  before  the  death  of  Joshua  had  taken  possession  of 
their  partially  subjugated  allotments,  now  held  a  council  at  Shiloh  (Procop., 
a  Lap.,  Ba.)  to  plan  measures  against  the  Canaanites  who  were  left  in  their 
several  territories;  that  from  the  council  they  returned  home  and  opened  a 
series  of  campaigns  in  different  parts  of  the  land,  Judah  making  the  first 
attack  (Ba.),  is  a  figment  without  the  slightest  warrant  in  the  text. 

Their  question  is  not.  Who  shall  lead  us  in  a  joint  expedition?  $ 
or,  What  tribe  shall  have  the  hegemony  ?§  but,  What  tribe  shall 
first  invade  its  own  region  ?  II  as  the  response  and  the  following 
narrative  clearly  show,  and  as,  indeed,  the  language  requires.  — 
The  Canaanites'\  collective  name  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  land ; 
see  on  f.  Those  who  find  in  Jud.  i  a  continuation  of  the  history 
in  Jos.  are  compelled  to  explain  the  words  of  the  Canaanites  who 
remained  unsubdued  in  the  territory  of  the  several  tribes,^  an 


*  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  2,  i  §  120 ;  cf.  Jud.  20^f-.  The  death  of  Eleazar  is  recorded 
in  Jos.  2433  (cf.  ©)  in  close  connexion  with  that  of  Joshua. 

t  That  they  were  accompanied  and  aided  in  the  conquest  of  the  land  by  the 
contingent  of  the  tribes  east  of  the  Jordan  is  the  representation  of  E  and  D. 

+  ©!LS,  Aug.,  other  Ff.  \  Fl.  Jos.,  Euseb.,  Ephr.  Syr.,  Schm.,  Ew. 

II  Rabb.,  a  Lyra,  Masius,  Drus.,  Cler.,  most  moderns. 

^  Procop.,  Rabb,,  Brenz,  and  many. 


12  JUDGES 

interpretation  which  is  neither  warranted  by  the  text  here,  nor 
consonant  with  the  representation  of  Jos.  (cf.  ii^^'^).*  —  2.  The 
oracle  designates  Judah.  In  Jos.  also  the  first  victories  of  Israel 
are  gained  in  the  south  (ch.  lo),  and  Judah  is  the  first  of  the 
tribes  west  of  the  Jordan  to  receive  its  allotment  (ch.  14.  15).  It 
has  been  suggested  above  that  the  author  of  Joshua  had  before  him 
an  account  of  the  invasion  of  Canaan  strongly  resembling  Jud.  i. 
Whether  this  precedence  of  Judah,  hke  the  part  assigned  to  Judah 
in  J's  story  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the 
Judahite  origin  of  the  narrative,  or  whether  it  may  preserve  a 
reminiscence  of  the  foct  that  Judah  was  the  first  of  the  tribes  to 
establish  itself  in  Canaan,  cannot  well  be  decided. f  —  3.  Judah 
said  to  Simeon  his  brother]  utique  tribus  ad  tribum  (Aug) .  Simeon 
was  the  "  brother  "  of  Judah,  not  only  as  all  the  tribes  of  Israel 
were  brethren,  but  in  the  closer  kindre4  of  the  Leah  tribes 
(Gen.  29^'"^).  The  seats  of  Simeon  were  in  the  south  of  Judah  ; 
its  towns  (Jos.  19^'^)  were  all  within  the  limits  of  Judah,  and  in 
Jos.  i^-'c-^--*-  are  included  in  the  list  of  the  latter  tribe  (cf.  also 
I  Chr.  4^"''^).  On  Simeon  see  further  below,  on  v.^^.  Judah 
proposes  that  they  unite  their  forces  for  the  invasion,  first  of  the 
territory  of  Judah,  and  then  of  the  more  southern  district  which 
fell  to  Simeon.  The  words  imply  that  the  invasion  had  not  yet 
begim ;  the  two  tribes  are  encamped,  with  the  others,  at  a  point 
outside  of  the  territory  which  they  subsequently  occupied,  at  Gil- 
gal,  X  as  we  are  to  infer  not  only  from  2^  but  probably  also  from 
Jos.  14-16;  see  below.  —  Into  77iy  allotted  ter7-itory\  The  tribes 
go  up,  not  to  conquer  for  themselves  a  lot,  §  but  each  to  conquer 
its  own  lot.  It  is  clearly  presupposed  that  there  was  an  under- 
standing among  them  before  the  beginning  of  the  invasion  in 
what  quarter  each  was  to  seek  its  fortune,  a  preliminary  division 


•  See  above,  the  last  note,  and  p.  8  f. 

t  It  is  thought  by  some  scholars  that  Judah  entered  the  land,  not  from  the  east, 
as  is  assumed  in  the  passage  before  us,  in  agreement  with  all  the  other  sources, 
but  from  the  south  (Graf,  Simeon,  p.  15  f.,  Kuen.,  Land,  Tiele,  Doom. ;  cf.  Bud., 
Richter  u.  Samuel,  p.  41).  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  this  is  true  of  Caleb,  but  not 
of  Judah  ;  see  below  on  v.io-  '^K 

X  Not  at  Shechem  (Be.),  or  at  Shiloh  (Ba.)  ;  the  conquest  of  this  region  by 
Joseph  falls,  according  to  the  representation  of  our  chapter,  after  the  invasion  of 
the  South  by  Judah.  §  Wcllhauscn. 


I.  2-4  13 

of  the  land  to  be  conquered.*  It  is  probable  that  in  its  original 
connexion,  v.^''  was  preceded  by  an  account  of  this  partition,  and 
possible  that  traces  of  this  account  may  be  found  in  Jos.  I4''""-  15^"- 
(Judah)  and  i6^^-  (Joseph).  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  Jos.  14-16 
these  tribes  only  have  their  territory  assigned  to  them  at  Gilgal. 
In  what  manner  the  author  of  Jud.  i  conceived  this  division  to 
have  been  made,  we  cannot  certainly  make  out ;  the  reference  to 
the  oracle  (v.^^)  and  the  term  "  allotment  "  suggest  the  sacred  lot ; 
cf.  Jos.  1 8^'^*^.  Whether  such  a  partition  of  the  land  actually  took 
place  is  a  question  for  historical  criticism  ;  |  the  language  of  these 
verses  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  author  so  represented  it. 

1.  nin>3  VxiJ',  D^nSxiJ  Snjj']  iS^  2o18-23.27.  freq.  (II  t.)  in  Sam.  The  :i  is 
originally  local;  cf.  2  ti'm,  ha  ti^i^,  &c.  —  Sk  nS>*]  march  up  to,  against.  The 
hostile  sense,  oftener  expressed  by  Sjr,  is  sufficiently  indicated  in  the  context; 
cf.  3  rh'},  invade  (a  region,  country),  v. ^  Nu.  13^^  Is.  7^.  —  ijS]  expressing 
the  common  interest;   cf.  Dt.  ^f^'-     We  should  more  likely  say,  who  <?/■  us. 

—  nSnn^]  lit.  at  the  beginning.  nSnn  (inf.  n.  of  Vnn,  begin^  is  not  used 
of  order  in  place  or  rank  but  of  inception  in  time;  cf.  lo^^  -sva  ty^Nn  >d 
jiDj;  "ijia  ryrhrh  Sn>,  who  will  first  attack  the  Ammonites,  it — 2.  i>-\Nn  riN  "Tinj 
no]  /  deliver .  .  .  into  his  power,  give  up  to  him,  v.*  a^'^  31*^  ^  and  often, 
especially  in  the  introductions  to  the  stories  of  the  judges,  Ex.  23^1  Jos.  21^2 
&c.  The  pf.  represents  the  future  as,  in  the  thought  and  purpose  of  the 
speaker,  already  an  accomplished  fact,  an  unalterable  certainty;  Dr.^  §  13, 
Ges.2o  §  106,  3  a.  —  3.  ""SlJ^]  in  sortejn  meam  (Aug.,  IL'^s),  not  in  sorte  mea 
(|{^codd.  piur.  edd.^  Ba.).  h^-\y  is  allotment,  allotted  portion  of  territory,  Jos.  1 7!^-  ^", 
eventually,  like  KX^pos,  portion,  estate.  —  in^'^ni  .  .  .  ncn':'ji  .  .  .  nSy]  go  tip  with 
7ne  .  .  .  and  let  tis  fight .  .  .  and  I  will  go  with  thee.  Bidding  and  promise, 
cf.  v."^.  When  the  bidding  or  asking  clause  is  felt  to  be  logically  dependent, 
such  sentences  pass  over  into  the  class  of  conditionals.  If  you  go  with  me,  I 
will  go  with  you  (Paul,  Principien  der  Sprachgeschichte^ ,  p.  1 24) . 

4.  The  verse  is  superfluous  ;  except  the  ten  thousand  slain  —  a 
round  number  for  which  we  need  hardly  seek  an  historical  source 

—  it  tells  us  nothing  which  we  do  not  read  in  the  context.  By 
the  side  of  v.^'''  it  occasions  serious  difficulty.     As  an  anticipative 


*  But  that  Jud.  i  presupposes  the  great  cadaster,  Jos.  15-21,  and  would  be  unin- 
telligible without  it  (Be,),  cannot  be  admitted.  For  the  necessary  knowledge  of 
the  seats  and  bounds  of  the  tribes,  the  author's  contemporaries  did  not  need  to 
consult  the  domesday  book. 

t  See  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  i.  p.  246  f. ;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  41  f. 

X  On  Jud.  20I8,  see  note  there. 


14  JUDGES 

general  statement  of  the  result  of  the  campaign  which  is  related 
in  detail  in  v.^-',*  it  is  very  clumsy ;  nor  are  the  interpretations 
more  satisfactory  which  refer  v."*  and  ^  to  successive  moments  in 
the  invasion,  whether,  with  Bertheau,  we  suppose  that  after  a  first 
defeat  near  Bezek,  in  which  he  lost  10,000  men,  Adoni-bezek 
threw  himself  into  the  town,  where  he  was  again  attacked  and  put 
to  flight ;  or,  with  Cassel,  that  in  the  first  battle  Adoni-bezek  was 
not  engaged.  In  either  case,  we  should  expect  the  narrator  to 
explain  in  some  way  the  relation  between  the  two  defeats  of  the 
same  people  at  the  same  place.  Probably  the  redactor,  having 
abridged  his  source  by  omitting  the  beginning  of  the  story  of 
Adoni-bezek,  filled  its  place  with  these  general  phrases  borrowed 
from  the  context. 

E.  Meyer  {ZATIV.  i.  p.  135)  regards  v.'^  (except  nnsn  and  perh.  the 
number  10,000)  as  derived  from  J,  and  rejects  v.^  as  repetition;  he  finds 
other  grounds  for  suspicion  in  w.''^  compared  with  v.^i,  and  in  the  use  of 
D-i.-iSn,  vJ^,  though  he  does  not  deny  that  the  story  of  Adoni-bezek  may  have 
an  historical  basis.  Kue.  doubts  the  whole  of  v.^-^  on  historical  grounds; 
Matthes  ascribes  v.^-''  to  the  last  hand  (canonical  editor).  See  against  Mey. 
and  Kue.,  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  3  f.  Kitt.  {GdH.  i.  i.  p.  241)  thinks  that  in 
V.4  the  words,  And  Y.  gave  the  Canaanites  into  their  power,  may  be  genuine, 
which  is  certainly  not  impossible. 

Judah  alone  is  named  (cf.  v.^-^-^°  —  prob.  all  secondary). — 
Their  hand  .  .  .  they  smo/e^  the  men  of  Judah;  the  common 
distributive  plural  with  a  collective  noun.  On  the  Canaanites  and 
Perizzites,  and  on  Bezek,  see  on  v.^  —  Ten  thousand  7nen'\  '^ 
(they  slew  of  Moab  ten  thousand  men)  4^  f  20^^  2  K.  14^  &c. ; 
a  common  round  number.  —  5.  They  came  upon  Adoni-bezek  at 
Bezek']  if  v.  4  (Judah  went  up)  is  from  the  hand  of  an  editor,  the 
plural  probably  referred  originally  to  the  allies,  Judah  and  Simeon, 
v.^.  There  is  good  reason  to  suspect  that  the  beginning  of  the 
story  of  Adoni-bezek,  which  would  have  told  us  who  he  was,  and 
perhaps  something  of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  alHes 
encountered  him,  has  been  omitted  by  the  editor.  —  Bezek]  the 
name  occurs  in  the  O.T.  only  in  i  S.  ii^  where  Saul  musters  at 
Bezek  the  force  he  has  raised  for  the  relief  of  Jabesh  Cxilead.  The 
Bezek  of  i  S.  11  is,  without  doubt,  the  modern  Khirbet  Ibziq,  14 


*  Abarb..  Schm..  Kc.  Ba. 


I.  4-5  15 

Engl,  miles  SSW.  of  Beisan,  and  a  somewhat  less  distance  from 
the  mouth  of  Wady  Yabis,  of  which  it  lies  directly  west.  Many 
scholars  identify  the  place  in  our  text  with  this  Bezek.*  The 
situation,  however,  does  not  meet  the  requirements  of  the  narra- 
tive at  all.  At  the  beginning  of  the  story,  Judah  and  Simeon  set 
out  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Gilgal  to  invade  the  region  in  which 
they  were  afterward  settled ;  its  end  (v.  7)  brings  us  to  Jerusalem, 
and  we  should  naturally  infer  that  the  battle  took  place  at  no 
great  distance  from  that  city.f  Ibzlq  lies  wholly  outside  of  this 
sphere  of  action,  and  in  an  opposite  direction.  Others  have 
therefore  supposed  that  there  was  another,  hitherto  unidentified, 
Bezek  in  Judah,  |  and  if  the  text  be  sound,  this  seems  necessary.  § 
Budde  thinks  that  the  name  Bezek  was  introduced  by  an  editor, 
who  derived  it  merely  from  the  name  of  the  king  Adoni-bezek ; 
but  after  the  words  "  they  came  upon  A.,"  an  indication  of  the 
scene  of  the  encounter  is  certainly  expected,  |1  and  this  gap  would 
not  be  filled  by  the  words  "king  of  Jerusalem,"  which  Budde  con- 
ceives originally  to  have  stood  in  this  place.  A  more  serious  diffi- 
culty is  the  name  Adoni-bezek.  This  is  generally  explained,  Lord 
of  Bezek  ;  but  such  a  formation  is  altogether  anomalous.  No  com- 
pound names  of  persons  in  Hebrew  are  made  in  this  way  from  the 
name  of  a  town,  nor  —  if  we  should  evade  this  objection  by  taking 
the  words  appellatively  ^  —  is  adon  used  like  melek  of  the  sover- 
eign of  a  city  or  country.  In  names  compounded  with  adon,  the 
second  part  is  uniformly  the  name  of  a  god,**  Adoni-zedek  (Adoni- 
Sedeq),  Adoniram  (Adoni-Ram),  Adonijah  (Adoni-Yahu).tt     If 

*  Euseb.,  Ki.,  Ew.,  Hitz.,  Di.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Ke.,  MV.,  SS.,  al. 

t  This  is  confirmed  by  Jos.  lo,  according  to  which  the  Israelites,  coming  up 
from  Gilgal,  encounter  the  enemy  at  Gibeon. 

X  Cler.,  Rosenm.,  v.  Raum.,  Ba.,  Grove,  al. 

§  Sandys  (1610)  notes  a  Bezek  2  m.  from  Bethzur  (Reland,  p.  663),  which  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  heard  of  by  more  recent  travellers.  Conder  would  identify 
Bezek  with  Bezkah,  6  m.  SE.  of  Lydda  {SWP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  36).  Schotanus 
suggested  Bozkath  (npx:3),  Jos.  1530.  Cass,  takes  the  noun  appellatively,  the  '  stony 
desert '  W.  of  the  Dead  Sea,  without  support  in  Heb.  or  intrinsic  probability. 

II  The  words  Iv  rfj  Be^e/c  are  lacking,  however,  in  ffi^e.  59. 108.  e^  perhaps  by  accident. 

If  So  S.  **  The  same  is  true  of  compounds  of  melek. 

tt  Similarly  in  Phoen. :  p'^iNSjix,  SyjJix,  a'Dtr'JiN.  The  one  apparent  exception 
in  the  O.T.,  Adonikam,  Ezr.  2I3,  is  differently  formed,  and,  moreover,  probably 
corrupt;  Neh.  loi^  gives  him  the  name  Adonijah.  See  Renan,  Hist,  d' Israel,  i. 
p.  241 ;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  64. 


1 6  JUDGES 

the  name  Adoni-bezek  is  sound,  Bezek  must  be  an  otherwise 
unknown  god,  whose  name,  we  might  then  suppose,  the  town  also 
bore.  The  question  is  further  compUcated  by  Jos.  lo,  where,  in 
an  account  which,  notwithstanding  its  radical  divergences,  is  par- 
allel to  Jud.  i^'",  and  based  on  the  same  or  a  closely  similar 
source,  the  head  of  the  Canaanite  confederacy  which  first  makes 
front  against  the  Israelite  invaders  is  Adoni-zedek,  king  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  latter  is  a  normal  formation  which  has  a  striking  par- 
allel in  Melchi-zedek  (Malki-Sedeq),*  king  of  Jerusalem  (Gen.  14). 
It  seems  probable,  therefore,  that  in  the  place  of  the  problematical 
Adoni-bezek,  king  (v.^)  of  some  nameless  city,t  the  original  of 
Jud.  I  (J)  had  Adoni-zedek,  king  of  Jerusalem.  J 

Bezek  (pr^)]  Euseb.  (  OS'^.  lyj^.^  notes  two  neighbouring  villages  of  the  name, 

17  R.  m.  from  Neapolis,  on  the  road  to  Scythopolis  (Beth-shean).  This  is  the 
Khirbet  Ibziq  of  the  Engl.  Survey  {Gj'eat  Map,  sh.  12;  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  231, 
237),  14  E.  m.  from  Nabulus,  with  which  Eshtori  Parchi  (a.d.  1322;  ed.  Venet. 
fol.  66^^)  had  already  identified  it.  —  Adoni-bezek']  Jerome  ((95^.  313  cf.  2317) 
interprets  domi?iiis  fulminis,  or  dominus  meus  fulgurans.  The  former  might 
seem  to  be  a  possible  Hebrew  name;  cf.  Barak  (ch.  4.  5);  Boave/)7es  (Mar.  3^"); 
Scipiades,  belli  fulmina,  &c.  But  |nN  is  not  used  like  ^"3  of  the  possessor  of 
a  quality  or  attribute,  and  pT3  fubyien  rests  solely  on  the  probably  corrupt  text 
of  Ez.  i^*.  The  identity  of  Adoni-bezek,  Jud.  i,  and  xA.doni-zedek,  Jos.  10, 
which  was  discussed  by  older  Catholic  commentators  (see  e.g.  a  Lapide),  is 
accepted  by  many  recent  critics.  §  Against  the  hypothesis  adopted  above  in 
the  text,  Bu.  and  We.  contend  that  the  original  form  of  the  name  was  Adoni- 
bezek,  as  in  Jud.;  Adoni-zedek  in  Jos.  being  an  intentional  differentiation 
in  some  way  connected  with  Melchi-zedek,  Gen.  14.  In  support  of  this  view 
the  fact  is  adduced  that  in  Jos.  the  MSS.  of  CEr,  with  singular  unanimity, 
exhibit  AdcovtjSe^eK  (cf.  also  OS^.  26513;  1323  2317);  unintentional  confor- 
mation of  fflr  in  Jos.  to  Jud.  is  less  probable,  it  is  argued,  than  differentiation 
in  1^  for  harmonistic  reasons,  which  also  led  to  the  omission  in  Jud.  of  the 
title,  king  of  Jerusalem.  But  since  Adoni-zedek  is  regularly  formed  and 
supported  by  analogy,  while  Adoni-bezek  is  quite  anomalous,  it  seems  more 

*  p-y-i,  2vSv(c  (Philo  Bybl.),  is  the  name  of  a  Canaanite  deity;  cf,  •]':'apnx  (name 
of  a  king)  on  coins  (Bloch,  Phoen.  Glossar,  p.  55).  Cf.  Sxpii",  "\Dnpn:s,  in  S.  Arabia 
(Praetorius,  in  7.DMG.  xxvi.  p.  426). 

t  It  is  to  be  particularly  observed  that  he  is  not  called  king  of  Bezek.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  end  of  his  history,  v.7,  shows  that  he  was  in  some  way  connected 
with  Jerusalem. 

+  The  last  words  would  naturally  stand,  not  here  (Bu.),  but  at  the  first  intro- 
duction of  his  name,  now  omitted. 

\  The  opposite  opinion  is  defended  by  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  i.  p.  277  f. 


I.  5-6  17 

probable  that  if  there  was  any  intentional  change  it  was  in  the  latter,  not  in 
the  former.*  The  motive  for  such  a  change  need  not  have  been  purely 
harmonistic  ;  this  may  be  one  of  the  not  infrequent  perversions  of  proper 
names  by  a  contemptuous  and  silly  wit,  such  as  perhaps  turned  Din  njr;n  2^ 
into  n"\D  'n  Jos.  243'^.t  A  third  variation  of  this  name  is  exhibited  by  Fl.  Jos., 
anit.  v.  2,  2  §  121  (on  Jud.  i),  Steph.  Byz.,  Procop.  Gaz.  (on  Jud.  1),  Oi8-i34 
in  Jos.  10^,  viz.,  ASwj/i^e/Se/c  (Ze/Sc/c,  ZejS^KTj).  Whether  this  is  a  corruption  in 
Greek,  or  represents  an  (intermediate?)  variation  in  Heb.,  can  hardly  be 
determined. 

The  CcDiaanites  and  the  Perizzites\  the  Perizzites  coupled  with 
the  Canaanites,  v."*  Gen.  13'  34'^'^  (J),  and  frequently  in  the  cata- 
logue of  the  peoples  of  Palestine,  the  "  seven  nations  "  of  Dt.  7^  % 
We  know  nothing  more  about  them.  "  The  land  of  the  Perizzites 
and  the  Rephaim  (giants),"  Jos.  i7^^§  is  probably  a  gloss  or  a 
corruption,  and  it  is  extremely  precarious  to  infer  from  this  collo- 
cation, taken  with  the  absence  of  the  name  in  Gen.  10,  that  the 
Perizzites  belonged  to  a  still  older  population  which  the  Canaan- 
ites had  supplanted  and  reduced  to  villeinage.  ||  It  may  rather  be 
questioned  whether  they  were  in  reality  a  '  people '  (tribe,  clan)  at 
all,  or  only  a  class  of  the  Canaanite  population,  the  inhabitants  of 
peasant  villages,  as  the  name  suggests. 

nnsn]  •«i'io  Dt.  3^  i  S.  d^^  are  the  inhabitants  of  umvalled  villages,  mriD 
Ez.  38^1 ;  cf.  MH.,  Meg.  19".  It  is  possible  that  these  Canaanite  peasants 
were  later  imagined  to  have  been  a  distinct  people,  and  that  the  pronunciation 
"•no  is  an  artificial  discrimination  from  the  appellative  use.  fflr  apparently 
knew  nothing  of  this  distinction;  for  it  has  ^epe-^oXoi  in  Dt.  and  Sam.  also, 
where  the  later  Greek  translators  render  areix'-o^Toi. 

6.  They  cut  off  his  thumbs  and  great  toes']  the  mutilation  doubly 
disabled  him  for  fighting,  and  probably  also  disquaHfied  him  for 
reigning.  Clericus  quotes  from  Aelian,  var.  htst.j  ii.  9,  the  story 
that  the  Athenians  voted  to  cut  off  the  right  thumb  of  every  Aegine- 
tan  they  captured,  Tva  hopv  jxev  jSaard^av  fJirj  SvviovTaL,  Kwirrjv  Sk  iXav- 


*  That  in  Jos.  the  corruption  has  infected  &,  but  not  |§,  is  of  no  great  signifi- 
cance ;  cf,  the  variations  of  ©  in  Jud.  2^  Jos.  2480  cited  below. 

t  Such  wit  would  be  capable  of  giving  a  contemptuous  twist  to  pr3. 
X  On  these  lists,  see  below,  on  3^. 
§  Wanting  in  <5. 

II  Dillm.,  BL.  iv.  p.  462,  cf.  ND^.  p.  546 ;  Kautzsch,  HWB.^  ii.  p.  1193. 
c 


1 8  JUDGES 

vciv  SvvoiVTaL*  Hannibal,  according  to  Valer.  Max.,  ix.  2,  ext.  2, 
mutilated  prisoners  of  war,  prima  pedum  parte  succisa.  After  the 
surrender  of  Uxellodunum,  Caesar  cut  off  the  hands  of  all  who  had 
borne  arms  {M/.  gall.,  viii.  44).  — 7.  Seventy  kings,  6^r.]  This 
sounds  more  like  a  savage  boast  than  the  note  of  contrition, 
though  he  recognizes  a  retribution  in  his  fate.  The  obvious 
exaggeration  is  no  reason  for  questioning  the  genuineness  of  the 
verse,t  nor  for  the  conjecture  that  the  number  has  been  raised 
from  seven,  \  nor  for  supplying  in  thought,  ''  at  different  times."  § 
The  table  was  a  small,  low  stand,  around  which  those  who  partook 
of  the  meal  sat  on  the  ground,  or  which  was  placed  before  them 
as  they  sat  upon  chairs  or  couches.  1|  We  are  not,  therefore,  to 
imagine  the  kings  actually  under  the  table,  but  as  gathering  up 
from  the  ground,  like  dogs  (Matt.  15-'',  Odyss.  xvii.  309),  the  frag- 
ments which  fell  as  their  master  ate ;  and  we  may  perhaps  best 
represent  this  if  we  think  of  him  as  sitting,  like  Saul  (1  S.  20  ^^), 
upon  a  divan  by  the  wall  with  the  table  before  him.^  —  They 
bi'ought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  he  died  there']  the  common,  and 
indubitably  the  most  natural  interpretation  of  these  words,  viz. 
that  the  Israelites,  as  they  now  marched  to  attack  Jerusalem 
(v.  8),  carried  their  captive  with  them,  is  beset  by  great  difficulty. 
The  author  of  this  story  of  the  conquest  tells  us  plainly  that  the 
invaders  were  unable  to  dislodge  the  Jebusites  from  Jerusalem 
(Jos.  15*^  Jud.  i-^) ;  —  v.'^,  which  says  the  opposite,  is  for  that 
reason  by  another  and  a  later  hand.  To  relieve  this  difficulty, 
several  recent  scholars  **  give  the  verb  in  v.''^  an  indefinite  subject, 
men  brought  him,  he  was   brought,  sc.  by  his    own  people,  to 

*  The  story  is  repeated  or  referred  to  by  Xen.,  hlst.gr.,  ii.  i,  31 ;  Plut.,  vit.  Lys., 
9;  Cic,  de  off.,  iii.  11;  Valer.  Max.,  ix.  2,  ext.  8.  Whether  it  is  true,  or  only  a 
Peloponnesian  slander  (K.  O.  Miiller),  it  shows  that  such  atrocities  were  not 
inconceivable  even  in  Greek  warfare.  Examples  among  the  Persians,  Quint.  Curt., 
iii.  20,  V.  17 ;  Diod,  Sic,  xvii.  69 ;  Arabs,  Ew.,  G  VI.  ii.  p.  494  n. 

t  Kue.  +  Kitt.  \  Ba. 

II  Seemingly  the  oldest  custom  among  the  Egyptians  and  the  Homeric  Greeks 
also  ;  cf.  Erman,  Aegypten  u.  aeg.  Leben,  p.  262  f. ;  Buchholz,  Homerische  Realien, 
ii.  2,  p.  161  ff. ;  Baumeister,  Denkmaler,  p.  1817  f. ;  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians^, 
p.  142  fF, ;  Thomson,  Land  and  Book'^,  iii.  p.  75  f. ;  Benzinger,  Hebr.  Archdologie, 
p.  113,  123.  Reclining  at  meals  was  a  new  foreign  fashion  in  Israel  in  the  8th 
century ;  see  Am.  3I2  64.  ^  See  the  cut  in  Thomson,  I.e.,  p.  76. 

*♦  Cass.,  Reuss,  Bu.,  Kitt. 


I.  6-7  19 

Jerusalem ;  *  a  notice  which  becomes  at  once  more  intelligible 
and  more  significant  if,  as  has  been  supposed,  he  was  king  of 
Jerusalem,  and  that  city  was  not  attempted  by  Judah  at  this  time. 

6.  isxp">]  Pi.  cut  off,  praecidere :  2  S.  4^2  (hands  and  feet) ;  cf.  Qal 
Dt.  2512.  —  \hy\\  m""  nun^J  pi.  only  here  and  v.";  sg.  jnj  Ex.  29''^'  &c.  The 
plural  in  fH  is  formed  as  from  a  sg.  pna  which  f^sam.  j^as  throughout  in  place 
of  p^J"'^-  jna.  Arab,  has  by  the  side  of  (•V-^l  the  vulgar  forms  r»L^  and 
(vi^U.     The  noun  is  prob.  fern.,  like  other  names  of  members  of  the  body 

(Ges.'-^*^  §  122.  3  c;  Stade,  §310  <:);  Gesen.  made  it  masc.  through  miscon- 
struction of  v.";  in  Arab,  it  has  both  genders,  the  fem.  prevailing. — The 
annexion  of  two  genitives  to  one  noun  occurs  in  Heb.  only  when  the  genitives 
naturally  go  together,  or  form  a  standing  phrase,  as  in  71x1  D">Da'  mpn,  Jer.  33^^; 
ti'jni  iSn  n^T  ^nx,  Dt.  ii^  Jer.  11^  &c.;  see  also  Nu.  20^  Is.  22^;  a  striking 
example  is  Jud.  'f-^  axn  yy)  v^-\.  In  Arabic  the  constr.  is  more  freely  used. 
(gABN  ha.s  here  koX  to,  &Kpa  tQu  ttoSQv  avrou,  and  it  is  possible  that  their 
Heb.  conformed  to  the  common  construction,  Ex.  29^'^ :  (^^^'^^  S  Z  support  p?. 
—  7.  a-'XXipD  dhiSjii  onn"'  nijn3  □••dSd  D''J?3'.:']  the  ptcp,  is  to  be  taken  with 
d-'dSc  (circumstantial) ;  mjn^  is  adv.  accus.  of  determination  (Stud.,  Be.,  Ges.^s 
§  121.  2,  n.  I;  see  Wright,  Arab.  Gram.,  ii.  §  44  e;  Howell,  Arab.  Gram., 
I.  §  83  ff.);  cf  2  S.  15^2  Neh.  4I2.  For  a  different  construction  of  these  cases 
see  Ew.,  §  288  b  (De  Sacy,  Gram.  Arabe,  ii.  §  320  f.;  Fleischer,  Kl.  Schriften, 
i.  p.  644).  — D^top'^i:  vn]  Dr.3  §  135,  5;  Ges.^j  §  116.  5  n.,  2.  —  in'?'?']  in  older 
texts  only  of  the  king's  table  (i  S.  2o''^9  ^nd  freq.).  To  be  connected  not  with 
Heb.  rbxj  f  =^*Xwj  'send'  (not  'spread  out,'  MV.),  but  with  Aram.  Syr. 

nStt'  (  =  ;^*Xm;)  '  strip  off'  (skin  of  an  animal,  clothing,  &c.) ;  xnSc'  rhv  (MH. 

nSr)  ;^— Lw  'skin,  hide.'     Like  the  Arab.  HwLw   (from    ySUn  'sweep  off, 

strip  off'),  it  was  originally  a  round  mat  of  leather  with  a  drawing-string  in 
the  edge,  such  as  is  still  in  use  among  the  Bedawin,  which,  spread  out  on  the 
ground,  served  for  a  table,  drawn  up,  as  a  receptacle  for  food;  and  was  subse- 
quently applied  to  the  wooden  or  metal  tray  set  upon  a  stand,  which  in  town 
life  superseded  this  primitive  arrangement.  See  Lane,  Arab.- Engl.  Lex., 
p.  1371  B;  Niebuhr,  Arabien,  1772,  p.  52;  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  1888, 
i.  p.  148.  Whether  the  name  \rbv  was  given  it  in  Heb.  because  it  was  originally 
of  leather  (Levy,  NHWb.  iv.  p.  560),  or  because  it  was  removed,  stripped  off, 
after  using,  can  hardly  be  decided.  The  form  of  the  noun  is  anomalous; 
Lagarde  {Bildung  d.  Nomina,  p.  204  f )  rightly  regards  it  as  of  foreign  type, 
and  (with  p->i7  \yyp,  P"^"!)  borrowed  from  an  Aramaic  dialect.  Barth  (^Nomi- 
nalbildung,  p.  xxix  n)  explains  the  a  (instead  of  the  normal  0)  as  the  result 

*  Ges.25  ^  144,  3  b.\  Green,  \  245,  2. 


20  JUDGES 

of  dissimilation,  to  avoid  the  sequence  of  rounded  vowels  u  (o)  o.  This  is  not 
satisfactory,  because:  i,  such  dissimilation  would  more  probably  have  affected 
the  first  vowel  (giving  siUwn) ,  as  in  the  examples  Earth  himself  has  collected 
in  the  text;  2,  the  object  of  the  dissimilation  is  not  attained  by  substituting 
7(a  =  o)  for)  (o).  07-']  requite;  of  divine  retribution  for  evil  deeds,  Dt. 
7!'^  Jer.  251-*  &c.  —  a\-i^vs]  in  the  intercourse  between  men  of  different  tribes, 
worshippers  of  different  gods,  the  common  name  is  naturally  used;  it  is  no 
reason  for  doubting  the  genuineness  of  the  verse  (Mey.), 

8.  Of  the  capture  and  destruction  of  Jerusalem  as  here  nar- 
rated, there  is  no  trace  in  the  history.  Even  the  Book  of  Joshua, 
which  relates  at  large  the  overthrow  of  its  king  Adoni-zedek  and 
the  destruction  of  all  the  other  cities  of  his  confederacy,  is  signifi- 
cantly silent  about  Jerusalem  (Jos.  10;  cf.  12).  In  Jud.  19^^^- it 
is  a  city  of  the  Jebusites,  "where  there  are  no  Israehtes,"  and 
where,  therefore,  a  belated  wayfarer  hesitates  to  seek  hospitality. 
The  taking  of  Jerusalem,  with  its  stronghold  Zion,  is,  in  fact,  one 
of  the  great  achievements  of  David  (2  S.  ^''^)*  the  memory  of 
which  is  perpetuated  in  the  name  City  of  David.  But  we  are  not 
left  to  inferences ;  the  author  of  the  history  from  which  Jud.  i  is 
derived  tells  us  explicitly  that  the  invaders  did  not  —  could  not  — 
gain  possession  of  Jerusalem.  We  are  fortunate  enough  to  have 
this  statement  in  two  places  which  it  is  instructive  to  place  side 
by  side. 

Jos.  it^'^  The  Jebusites  inhabiting  Jeru-  Jud.  i"^  The  Jebusites  inhabiting  Jeru- 
salem, the  yudahites  could  not  dis-  salem,  the  Benjamites  did  not  dis- 
possess ;  and  the  Jebusites  dwelt  possess;  and  the  Jebusites  dwelt 
with  the  yudahites  in  Jerusalem,  to  with  the  Benjaviites  in  Jerusalem, 
this  day.  to  this  day. 

These  passages  are  identical  even  to  the  inverted  order  of  the  sentence; 
the  only  differences  are  indicated  by  the  italic  type.  In  this  variation  it  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  Jos.  has  preserved  the  original;  the  editor  of  Jud.  has, 
as  in  other  places  in  the  chapter,  Ranged  could  not  to  did  not  in  conformity 
to  his  theory  of  the  responsibility  for  this  failure,  and  substituted  Benjamin 
for  Jiidah  in  harmony  with  the  partition  which  allotted  Jerusalem  to  the 
former  tribe  (Jos.  15^  i8^^-28).  For  the  converse  changes  (Stud.,  Be.),  no 
reason  can  be  assigned.  The  verse  probably  stood  in  the  original  immediately 
after  v.",  or  perhaps  vJ- 1^-  21. 


*  I  S.  1754,  implying  that  Jerusalem  was  already  a  great  holy  place  of  Yahweh, 
is  a  gross  anachronism. 


I.  8-9  21 

That  this  statement,  in  its  original  form  as  it  stands  in  Jos., 
proceeds  from  J  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt ;  it  exactly  corre- 
sponds in  substance  and  form  to  Jud.  i-''**^-.  It  follows  that  v.^, 
which  flatly  contradicts  v.-\  cannot  be  genuine ;  it  was  probably 
inserted  by  an  editor,  who  perhaps  interpreted  v/,  as  most  com- 
mentators have  done,  to  mean  that  Judah  carried  Adoni-bezek  to 
Jerusalem,  and  supplied  an  express  statement  of  what  seemed  to 
him  to  be  necessarily  inferred  from  vJ^.  Whether  this  be  its 
origin  or  not,  the  verse  has  no  historical  value.* 

To  harmonize  v.^  with  v.^^  (Jos.  15^^)  and  with  the  known  facts,  two 
principal  hypotheses  have  been  proposed:  i.  They  took  and  destroyed  the 
lower  city,  but  were  unable  to  conquer  the  citadel  (Fl.  Jos.,  an^L  v.  2,  2 
§  124,  cf.  Procop.  on  v.'^i).  Later  the  lower  city  was  rebuilt,  and  inhabited 
by  Judahites  and  Benjamites  as  well  as  Jebusites;  but  the  latter,  holding  the 
castle,  were  the  real  masters  of  the  city  till  the  time  of  David  (Cler,,  Schm., 
a  Lapid.,  Abarb.).  2.  Judah  took  the  city  and  burned  it  as  related  in  v.^,  but, 
as  they  did  not  occupy  it,  the  Jebusites  soon  rebuilt  and  fortified  it  so  strongly 
that  neither  Benjamin,  in  whose  territory  it  lay,  nor  Judah,  whose  border  it 
threatened,  was  able  to  reconquer  it.  After  a  time,  during  which  it  was  wholly 
Jebusite  (Jud.  I9^^^-)j  Judahites  and  Benjamites  settled  as  metics  beside  the 
citizens  of  the  place,  and  this  relation  continued  till  David's  time,  when,  the 
power  passing  into  Israelite  hands,  it  was  reversed  (cf.  Aug.,  quaest.  7,  Thdt., 
Ew.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Reuss,  Ba.).  By  the  first  of  these  hypotheses  v.^  and  v.^i  are 
made  to  refer  to  different  things,  —  the  lower  city,  the  citadel;  by  the  second, 
to  different  periods,  —  at  the  beginning  of  the  invasion,  in  later  times;  neither 
is  consistent  with  the  text ;  if  such  had  been  the  author's  meaning  he  would 
have  made  it  plain.  — 'y\  innSii]  the  verbs  cannot  be  taken  as  pluperf.,  they  had 
fought  against  J.  and  taken  it,  ^c.  (Ki.,  Drus.,  al.),  an  interpretation  which  the 
syntax  of  Heb.  tenses  does  not  allow.  —  On  Jerusalem  and  the  Jebusites,  see  on 
1910.  — 2-in  ifjS]  see  below,  on  v.^s.  —  tyx3  rhv  n^j,n  nxi]  20*8  2  K.  8^2  Ps.  74^^; 
cf  in;;3  C'X  ^nnVty'i  Hos.  S^*  Am.  i^-  7. 10  &c.  The  older  comm.  explained  the  first 
of  these  constructions  as  an  hypallage  for  the  second  (see  esp.  Drus.) ;  but 
such  an  artificial  figure  is  not  natural  in  prose.  *  Cast  into  the  fire  '  will  hardly 
do,  for  in  all  cases  in  O.T.  the  obj.  is  a  city  or  building;  'set  on  fire'  is 
scarcely  a  parallel  idiom;  perhaps  the  origin  of  the  phrase  may  be  'send  off, 
get  rid  of,  by  fire.' 

9-15.  Judah  wages  the  war  in  all  parts  of  its  territory; 
the  taking  of  Hebron  and  Debir;  the  dowry  of  Caleb's 
daughter  Achsah.  —  9.    The  verse  gives  us  nothing  more  than 

*  Hitz.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  I02 ;  Stade,  G  VI.  i.  p.  i6i  n. 


22  JUDGES 

the  familiar  names  of  the  three  regions  into  which  the  territory 
of  Judah  was  divided  by  nature,  and  on  account  of  this  general 
character  is  suspected.*  —  The  Highlands  and  the  South  and  the 
Lowlands^  for  the  whole  land  of  Judah,  resembles  Jos.  lo''*'  (D) 
9^  (Rd)  Dt.  I'  cf  Jer.  17-''  &c.  Instead  of  Lowland  {shephetah), 
the  author  of  our  history  uses  Plain  i^emeq,  v.^^-  ^^) .  Budde  conjec- 
tures with  considerable  probability  that  the  verse  was  inserted 
here  by  the  editor  in  place  of  v.^^-  -^,  when  the  latter  verses  were 
removed  to  their  present  position.  Of  the  three  regions  named, 
the  Highlands  (RV.  hill  country)  are  the  mountainous  backbone 
of  Southern  Palestine,  attaining  its  greatest  elevation  near  Hebron ; 
the  South  is  the  steppe  region  which  forms  the  transition  to  the 
true  desert ;  the  Lowland  is  the  coast  plain  including  the  Judaean 
foot-hills. 

As  the  Dead  Sea  is  far  below  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean,  while  the 
height  of  land  is  much  nearer  the  former  than  the  latter,  the  mountains  of 
Judah  fall  off  toward  the  east  almost  precipitously  in  three  terraces;  this  is 
the  Wilderness  ("»3nr;)  of  Judah,  a  waterless,  treeless  waste,  which  only  in 
spring  shows  a  thin  film  of  vegetation.  —  3Jj]  from  a  root  not  living  in  Heb., 
but  in  Aram,  and  Syr.  meaning  '  dry,  dry  up  ';  the  name,  therefore,  is  probably 
pre-Israelite.  As  the  Negeb  was  the  southernmost  of  the  natural  divisions  of 
Palestine,  the  name  acquired  the  sense  'south,' just  as  D"!  sea  came  to  mean 
'  west.'  —  n'?iD'.yn]  sc.  fiNn,  the  low-lying  land.  There  was  a  shephelah  of  Israel 
(Jos.  11^*^),  but  the  name  is  generally  used  without  further  definition  for  the 
southern  part  of  the  maritime  plain,  from  Joppa  to  Gaza.  It  appears  to  be  of 
Israelite  origin. 

10.  In  J  the  conquest  of  Hebron  is  ascribed  to  Caleb  (Jos. 
15^^^).  In  the  passage  before  us  Judah  gains  the  victory  (v.^°) 
and  afterwards  cedes  the  city  to  Caleb  (v.^°).  Closer  examination 
of  the  text  shows,  however,  that  this  is  the  work  of  the  editor,  and 
that  the  older  history  from  which  he  extracts  his  material  agreed 
with  Jos.  15^^^-,  and  was,  in  fact,  identical  with  the  source  of  the 
latter  passage.  As  the  story  now  runs  in  Jud.  i,  Judah  first  de- 
feats the  three  giants  (v.^"),  and  then  Caleb  drives  them  out  (v.^*')  ; 
the  subject  of  v."  can  in  its  present  connexion  only  be  Judah,  but 


*  We.,  Comp.,  p.  214;  Mey,,  ZATW.  i.  p.  136  n. ;  Bu.,  Richt  ?/.  Sam.,  p.  6;  cf. 
Di.,  NDJ.  p.  480:  "One  of  those  general  observations  which  Rd  is  fond  of  intro- 
ducing, often,  perhaps,  as  a  substitute  for  matter  which  he  omitted." 


I.  9-IO  23 

the  context  imperatively  requires  that  it  should  be  Caleb.  The 
text  of  the  older  narrative  may  be  reconstructed  by  the  aid  of  the 
parallel  in  Jos. : 

Jos.   1513   And   to  Caleb  the  son   of  Jud.  i^o  And  they  gave  to  Caleb  He- 

Jephunneh   he  gave   a  portion  in  bron,  as  Moses  had  bidden,  and  he 

the  midst  of  the  Judahites,  accord-  expelled  from  it  the  three  sons  of 

ing  to  the  commandment  of  Yah-  Anak. 

weh  to  Joshua,*  Kiriath  (i.e.  the  v.^o  [And  Judah  went  against  the  Ca- 
city  of)  Arba  the  father  of  (the)  naanites  who  lived  in  Hebron  —  the 
Anak  (giants),  that  is  Hebron.  ancient  name  of  Hebron  was  Kir- 
1*  And  Caleb  expelled  from  it  the  iath  Arba — ;  and  they  smote]  She- 
three  sons  of  Anak,  Sheshai,  Ahi-  shai,  Ahiman,  and  Talmai.  ^^  And 
man,  and  Talmai,  the  children  of  he  went  thence  against  the  inhab- 
Anak.  i^  And  he  went  up  thence  itants  of  Debir,  &c.  ^^  ^^d  Caleb 
against  the  inhabitants  of  Debir,  said,  &c. 
&c.     16  And  Caleb  said,  &c. 

The  editor  ascribes  Caleb's  conquest  to  Judah,t  and  makes  it  a  victory  over 
the  Canaanites,  where  the  older  narrative  spoke  only  of  Anakim.  To  accom- 
plish this,  he  removed  v."-^*^  from  the  beginning  of  this  story  to  the  end  of  the 
account  of  the  conquests  of  Judah  and  inserted  the  words  enclosed  in  brackets 
(Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  4  ff.). 

Hebron,  22  Rom.  miles  S.  of  Jerusalem,  j  in  the  highest  part  of 
the  mountains  of  Judah,  lies  in  a  valley  running  from  NW.  to  SE. 
The  modern  city  is  built  partly  in  the  bottom,  partly  on  the  slope 
of  the  eastern  hill.  §  With  the  region  south  of  it  Hebron  be- 
longed to  Caleb  ;  on  this  clan  see  note  below  on  v.^^.  —  The  name 
of  Hebron  in  earlier  times  was  Kirjath-arba'\  Jos.  14^^,  cf.  "Kir- 
jath-arba,  that  is  Hebron  "  Gen.  23^  35^''  Jos.  15^*  20^,  see  also 
15^'^  2i^\  The  original  meaning  of  the  name  is  probably  Teira- 
polis ;  the  peculiar  construction  of  the  numeral,  which  later 
scribes  did  not  recognize,  is  evidence  of  its  alien  origin,  if  not  of 
its  remote  antiquity.     Hebron  has  not  been  discovered  in  the  lists 

*  See  Jos.  14G-15, 

t  The  next  step  in  this  progress  was  to  attribute  the  conquest  of  Hebron  and 
the  extermination  of  the  giants  to  Joshua  and  all  Israel,  Jos.  lo^ef-  n-'if.. 

X  0S\  209C9. 

§  If  it  occupies  exactly  the  ancient  site,  it  was  one  of  the  very  few  cities  in  Pal- 
estine which  did  not  stand  on  a  hill.  On  Hebron  see  Rob.,  BRP-.  i.  p.  213  f.,  ii.  p. 
72  ff. ;  Rosen,  ZDMG.  xii.  p.  477  ff. ;  Sepp,  Jerusalem,  i.  p.  486-502 ;  Guerin,  Judee, 
iii.  p.  214-256;  Lortet,  Syrie,  p.  317-333  ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p,  305-309,  333-346; 
Bad3.,  p.  139  ff. ;  Wilson  in  DB"^.,  s.v. 


24  JUDGES 

of  places  in  Palestine  conquered  by  Egyptian  kings  of  the  i8th 
and  19th  dynasties,*  nor  in  the  Amarna  letters,  although  the  au- 
thority of  the  governor  of  Jerusalem  extended  to  places  further 
south.  In  Nu.  13"  we  are  told  that  Hebron  was  built  "seven 
years  before. Zoan  in  Egypt,"  by  which  we  should  probably  under- 
stand the  restoration  of  the  latter  city  at  the  beginning  of  the  19th 
dynasty. —  They  smote  Sheshai,  Ahiman,  and  Talmai~\  Jos.  15^* 
Nu.  13";  the  three  giants  ("sons  of  Anak  ")  whom  Caleb  drove 
out  (v.^).  The  editor  has  widely  separated  words  which  in  J 
stood  in  immediate  connexion ;  "  he  {i.e.  Caleb)  drove  out  the 
three  giants,  Sheshai,  Ahiman,  and  Talmai  " ;  cf.  Jos.  15^^  The 
names  are  of  distinctively  Aramaic  type  ;  Talmai  is  the  name  of  an 
Aramaean  king  of  Geshur,  whose  daughter  was  wife  of  David  and 
mother  of  Absalom  (2  S.  3^  i3^")>  ^^^  inscriptions  recently  found 
at  El-Ola  near  Teima  mention  two  kings  of  Lihhyan  named 
Talmi;t  Ahiman  i  Chr.  9^',  Sheshai  (Shashai)  Ezr.  lo^^ 

10.  'Jl  p"i3n  Dt:>i]  parenthetic  nominal  sentence;  perhaps  an  archaeological 
gloss  of  the  editor.  —  D^joS]  formerly,  previously  ;  v.^i-  ^  3"^  &c.  —  ynnx  nnp] 
the  numeral  y^wr  is  recognized  by  Jerome  {de  situ,  etc.,  OS^.  8410)  :  Arbe, 
id  est  quattuor,  eo  quod  ibi  tres  patriarchae,  Abraham,  Isaac  et  Jacob,  sepulti 
sunt,  et  Adam  magnus,  ut  in  Jesu  libro  scriptum  est  (Jos.  14^^).  J  The  same 
Midrash,  Ber.  rab.  §  58  (on  Gen.  23'-).  Kirjath-arba  is  interpreted  Tetra- 
polis  by  Luc.  Osiander  (1578),  E\v.,  Furrer,  Cass.,  Di.,  De.,  al.;  with  the 
anomalous  (not  Hebrew)  construction  of  the  numeral  cf.  ^iv  1X3  Seven 
Wells.  Such  a  name  might  be  given  to  a  town  in  which  four  kindred  or 
confederate  clans  were  settled  in  as  many  separate  quarters;  §  compare  the 
Phoenician  Tripolis  —  the  native  name  has  not  been  recovered  —  founded  by 
Tyre,  Sidon,  and  Aradus.  \     Later  readers,  however,  took  Arba  as  the  name 


*  The  identification  of  "  Khibur  "  in  inscriptions  of  Ramses  IIL  with  Hebron 
(Sayce,  RP.  n.  s.  vi.  p.  32,  39;  Higher  Criticis^n,  p.  333,  cf.  336  f.)  is  devoid  of 
all  plausibility.     Whether  the  name  Hebron  has  anything  to  do  with  i\\Q  Habiri  so  . 
often  mentioned  in  the  Amarna  letters  (Sayce,  al.)  is  not  yet  clear. 

t  D.  H.  Miiller,  Epigraphische  Denkindler  aus  Arabieti,  p.  5 ;  cited  by  Sayce, 
Higher  Criticism,  p.  189. 

J  See  also  ep.  108,  11  {0pp.  ed.  Vail.,  i.  694),  where  he  adds:  Hcet  plerique 
Caleb  quartum  putent,  cujus  ex  latere  memoria  monstratur. 

^  It  is  conceivable  that  Hebron  (?  '  confederation')  is  of  similar  origin.  —  It  is 
worthy  of  note,  though  probably  only  an  accidental  coincidence,  that  the  modern 
city  is  divided  into  four  quarters  (Rosen,  ZDMG.  xii.  1858,  p.  487)  ;  though  its 
recent  growth  makes  the  division  less  clearly  marked  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago. 

II  Strabo,  xvi.  2,  15,  p.  754 ;  Diod.  Sic,  xvi.  41 ;  Scylax,  p.  42. 


I.  lo-ii  25 

of  a  man,  the  ancestor  of  the  giants  of  Hebron.  So  "^  in  Jos.  1512  21II  n>-ip 
py;n  ■>2i<  >'3nx,  14!^  0'py;2  '?njn  aiNn  ;;2nN  nnp,  "  the  city  of  Arba,  the  greatest 
man  among  the  Anakim."  In  all  these  places  <3  has  preserved  the  original 
reading,  ttoXls  A.  fjLrjr p jiroXii  EuaK  (tQv  EvaK,  tlov  EvaKifx),  i.e.  CN  jj^tn  nn|5 
pjy.-t.*  A  later  editor  or  scribe,  who  did  not  catch  the  sense,  and  took  join 
for  a  tnasc.  pr.  n.,  altered  dn  to  ">3Nj  SinJin  dinh  is  another  miscorrection.  A 
kindred  misapprehension  of  pjyn  "-jd  (giants;  see  on  v.2*)  made  py;  also,  in 
spite  of  the  article,  a  man's  name,  and  so  provided  the  giants  of  Hebron  with 
a  genealogy  reaching  back  two  generations:  Arba — Anak  —  Sheshai,  Ahi- 
man,  Talmai  (Ges.,  Stud.,  al.) — TDinx]  so,  as  the  noun  type  demands, 
Bomb^,  Mich. ;  the  receptus  |p^nx  is  due  to  popular  etymology,  ]D  •'PN,  frater 
mens  quis?  (Philo,  Jerome,  al.);  cf.  Nu.  13-^  and  Norzi  in  loc, 

11-15.  Jos.  15^^-^^.  — 11.  He  lucnt  thence\  in  the  present  con- 
text the  subject  must  be  Judah,  but  v.^-  and  Jos.  15^^  show  that  it 
was  origmally  Caleb ;  see  on  vy^.—Debif-]  evidently  a  place  of 
some  importance  in  the  Negeb  (v.^^),  or  on  the  edge  of  the  hill 
country,  to  which  it  is  also  reckoned  (Jos.  ii"^  15''^).  It  is  prob- 
ably ed-Doheriyeh,  or  Dahariyehjt  four  or  five  hours  SW.  of  He- 
bron. This  village,  which  stands  in  a  conspicuous  position  on  a 
flat  ridge,  is  the  meeting  point  of  the  routes  from  Gaza,  Beer- 
sheba,  and  other  places  south  and  east,  and  is  counted  the  end  of 
the  desert  journey  for  travellers  coming  from  those  quarters,  the 
frontier  settlement  of  Syria.  The  situation  relatively  to  the  places 
named  in  Jos.  15-^^-^'^  is  also  suitable  ;  note  that  Debir  is  named  in 
immediate  connexion  with  Anab  (Jos.  ii'^  15^"),  which  hes  very 
near  paharlyeh.j  —  Kirjafh-sephej'']  the  name  is  commonly  ex- 
plained from  the  Hebrew  sepher  '  writing,  book  ' ;  so  ■^,  ^  ttoXi? 
ypaixfjidTO)v,  31  civitas  litterarum,   (IE  "^n^  nnp  i.e.  Archive-town. 


*  Suggested  by  Schleusner,  T/ies.  s.v.  juT^rpoTroAt?.  For  DX  in  this  sense  cf. 
2  S.  2oi9  and  Phoen.  coins,  |yjD3  DX  xonxS'?,  Gesen.,  Mo/t.  Phoen.,  p.  270  f.,  tab.  35 ; 
Schroeder,  Phoniz.  Sprache,  p.  275  and  pi.  18,  5 ;  Djns  DX  nsS,  Gesen.,  Mon.  Phoen., 
p.  262  f.,  tab.  34 ;  Schroeder,  op.  cit.,  p.  275,  pi.  18,  2. 

t  In  the  former  way  (io^-^iiJI)  it  is  written  and  explained  by  EU  Smith ;  the 
second  (x*^    gal  \n\\  Guerin,  SWP.  Name  Lists)  is  more  probably  right. 

t  See  Rob.,  BR'^.  i.  p.  209,  211 ;  Wilson,  Lands  of  the  Bible  (1847),  i.  p.  349  ff-J 
Palmer,  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  394  f. ;  Trumbull,  Kadesh  Barnea,  p.  102  ff. ;  S  WP. 
Memoirs,  iii.  p.  402.  The  identification  was  proposed  by  Knobel  (on  Jos.  1$^^-  ^^  \ 
1861).  Conder,  in  apparent  ignorance  of  his  predecessor,  speaks  of  it  as  one  of 
the  most  valuable  identifications  due  to  the  survey  (  Tent  Work,  1879,  ii.  p.  93)-     . 


26  JUDGES 

So  tempting  a  name  could  not  fail  to  give  rise  to  a  multitude  of 
speculations  ;  the  town  was  so  called  because  it  was  the  depository 
of  the  earliest  records  of  post-diluvian  history  (Masius),  or  of  the 
public  archives  of  the  Canaanites  or  Anakim  (Neubauer),  or  as 
the  seat  of  a  famous  Ubrary  (Arias  Montanus),  "like  those  of  the 
great  cities  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria"  (Sayce).*  Some  recent 
critics,  like  the  writer  last  named,  are  inclined  to  draw  large 
inferences  about  the  civilization  of  Canaan  from  this  library,! 
whose  existence,  it  must  be  remembered,  depends  solely  on  a 
possible  Hebrew  etymology  of  a  proper  name  not  of  Hebrew 
origin. 

Da'n  iSm]  Jos.  151^  Sy^i,  ©bno  j  Ju^.  ^al  6,v^^t]<Tav.  Hollenberg  (^ZATIV. 
i.  p.  loi  f.),  Bu.,  Kitt.  restore  S>'n  here;  "iSii  |^  @a.lm  g  ^yas  occasioned  by 
'^>^  v.i'^.  Rosen  {ZDMG.  xi.  1857,  p.  50  ff.)  would  find  the  name  Debir  in 
Debirwan  or  Idbirwan,  a  high  and  abrupt  hill  an  hour  and  a  quarter  W.  of 
Hebron,  and  the  springs  of  v.^^  in  *  Ain  Nunkur,'  two  miles  or  more  WS W. 
of  the  city;  so  Ew.  (earlier),  Roed.,  v.  Raum.,  Cass.  The  site  is,  however, 
much  too  near  Hebron;  Achsah  could  not  complain  in  going  thither  that  she 
was  being  sent  off  into  the  Negeb  country  (v.i^).  Van  de  Velde  suggested 
Khirbet  ed-Dilbeh,  two  hours  SW.  of  Hebron  in  a  valley  abounding  with 
springs;  but  this  again  does  not  fit  the  story;  Achsah  begs  for  the  springs  just 
because  they  do  not  abound  about  Debir.  Ewald  ( G  VI.  ii.  p.  403)  thought 
of  el-Burg  (Rob.,  BR^,  ii.  2i6  f.),  a  mile  or  more  W.  of  ed-Dahariyeh.  See 
further  on  v.^^.  The  etymology  of  Debir  is  altogether  obscure.  %  As  appella- 
tive, 1131  is  in  Heb.  the  adytum  of  the  temple  (i  K.  65-19  8^),  commonly 
explained  as  the  rear,  i.e.  wcBtern  part  of  the  building.  Sayce,  reverting  to 
Jerome's  oraculum,  place  where  the  god  speaks  to  his  priests,  infers  that 
Debir  was  famous  for  its  oracle  as  well  as  its  library,  —  the  two  being  probably 
closely  connected  (^Higher  Criticism,  p.  55).  —  "isD  nnp]  (S^N  fj  (Kapiacro-w- 
0ap)  5  a  §  pronounce  "^QD,  Scribe-town.  There  are  two  names  in  the  O.T.  with 
which  this  is  naturally  compared,  IDD  (fH  ace.  n^^p  %  Sephar  ©  2a>07jpa) 
in  Southern  Arabia  (Gen.  lo^o)  and  d.'1"}0D  Sepharvaim  (2  K.  17-^  &c.),  com- 
monly, but  falsely,  identified  with  the  Babylonian  Sippar  (Abu  Habba).  |1  In 
both  of  these  also  Jerome  discovers  the  Heb.  sepher, '  book '  {OS^.  1021  4717). 
An  etymological  myth  of  the  same  kind  which  modern  critics  spin  out  of  the 

*  Others  have  imagined  that  it  was  so  named  because  alphabetic  writing  was 
there  invented  (Hitz.,  Kneucker)  ;  or  because  it  was  famous  for  the  preparation  of 
writing  materials —  skins  or  papyrus —  (Schm.)  ;  or  as  the  seat  of  the  oldest  uni- 
versity (a  Lyra,  Serar.,  a  Lap.,  al.).        f  Sayce,  Higher  Criticism,  &c.,  p.  54  ff. 

X  n3T  as  the  name  of  a  city  occurs  in  Sabaean  inscriptions  (MV.). 

\  SO,  however,  Ij-Op.     Comp.  the  Egyptian  name  below. 

II  See  Fr.  Delitzscli  in  Calwer  Bibellexikotfl,  p.  827. 


I.  II-I4  27 

name  Kirjatli-sepher  seems  early  to  have  attached  itself  to  that  of  Sippar 
{liLTTcpapa,  Ptol.,  V.  18,  7),  where  Bcrossus  tells  us  that  the  records  of  the 
antediluvian  world  were  buried  by  Xisuthrus,  the  Babylonian  Noah,  and  pre- 
served from  the  waters  of  the  flood  (Muller,  fr.  hist,  gr.,  ii.  p.  501,  Euseb,, 
chron.,  ed.  Schoene,  i.  p.  21,  22).  The  etymology  is  adopted  by  Bochart 
(Sippara=  Nnop),  and  recently  by  Menant,  who  interprets  "la  ville  des 
livres"  {Babylone  et  la  Chaldee,  1875,  P-  9^)-  See,  against  this  derivation, 
Fr.  Delitzsch,  Paradies,  p.  210,  Sayce,  Hibbert  Lect..,  p.  168  n. — To  connect 
■^30  in  lijD  'p  with  Aram,  and  MH.  "loD,  *  border,  frontier,'  as  I  formerly  sug- 
gested (^PAOS.  Oct.  1890,  p.  Ixx.),  gives  a  suitable  sense,  Frontier-town,  but 
the  phonetic  difficulties  now  seem  to  me  decisive  against  this  explanation. 
Another  name  of  Debir-Kirjath-sepher,  ace.  to  Jos.  15*^,  was  njD  nnp;  see 
comm.  on  Jos.  I.e.  —  Kirjath-sepher  is  recognized  by  W.  M.  Muller  {Asien  u. 
Etiropa,  p.  174),  in  Ba}-ti  t_u-pa-\rq  (determinative  "  Writing"),  i.e.  "House 
of  the  Scribe  "  ("i^^b,  as  in  ^'^  %),  in  Papyrus  iVnastasi  I. 

12.  Whoever  smites  Kirjath-sepher,  &^c.^  cf.  i  S.  17^;  from 
the  sequel  it  appears  that  the  captured  city  also  fell  to  the  victor. 
— 13.  Othniel  the  son  of  Kenaz,  the  younger  brother  of  Caleb']  3^ 
Jos.  15^^  The  last  words  may  grammatically  be  referred  either  to 
Kenaz  or  to  Othniel,  and  interpreters  have  always  been  divided 
upon  the  question  whether  Othniel  was  Caleb's  nephew  *  or  his 
brother.f  The  words  who  was  youfiger  than  he  favour  the  latter 
construction.  The  age  of  Kenaz  is  irrelevant ;  the  notice  is  per- 
tinent only  as  indicating  that  the  disparity  in  age  between  uncle 
and  niece  was  not  as  great  as  might  be  thought,  or  (in  3^)  as 
explaining  how  Othniel  so  long  outlived  Caleb.  %  —  14.  When  she 
came]  We  are  perhaps  to  imagine  that  she  had  been  sent  for  from 
a  place  of  safety,  such  as  Hebron,  where  she  had  been  left  during 
the  campaign  against  Debir.  The  order  of  the  narrative  is  not 
against  this ;  the  fulfilment  of  Caleb's  promise  is  properly  related 
in  v.^^^- ;  an  important  incident  connected  with  the  marriage  is 
added  in  v.^^-.  Others,  with  a  less  natural  interpretation  of  the 
verb,  explain,  as  she  was  going  from  her  father's  house,  where  the 
marriage  had  taken  place,  to  her  husband's  new  home,  escorted 

*  ©BN  t;l6s  Keve^  dSeAc^ou  XaAe/S  ;  so  Calv.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Pfeiffer,  J  H  Mich.,  Ew., 
Ba.,  Reuss. 

j-  ©Aal.  ii,  fiiius  Cenez  frater  Caleb;  so  Orig.,  Thdt.,  Procop.,  Temurah  i6a,  Ra., 
Ki.,  Abarb,,  and  most  moderns,  Ke.,  Cass.,  Be.,  Di.,  Bu.,  Kitt.,  al. 

X  It  seems  to  me  not  improbable  that  the  words,  which  are  not  found  in  Jos., 
were  first  introduced  in  3^,  and  thence  at  second  hand  into  ii3. 


28  JUDGES 

on  the  way  by  her  father.  —  She  instigated  him  to  ask  of  her  father 
a  piece  of  land']  as  Achsah  herself  makes  the  request,  we  should 
rather  expect,  he  instigated  her  to  ask,  ^c.*  If  we  adhere  to  the 
canon,  proclivi  scriptioni  praestat  ardua,  the  best  explanation  is 
doubtless,  she  persuaded  him  that  they  should  ask ;  t  it  was  her 
suggestion,  and  the  execution  of  the  plan  naturally  devolved  upon 
her,  but  it  was  with  his  full  knowledge  and  consent.  We  hardly  see, 
however,  why  the  author  should  take  the  pains  to  tell  us  that.  —  She 
slipped  off  her  ass]  i  S.  25-^  Gen.  2^  2  K.  5-^ ;  a  mark  of  rever- 
ence, here  and  in  i  S.  25-^  the  posture  of  a  respectful  suppliant.  % 

—  What  is  it?]  What  wouldest  thou?  (RV.)  is  aomewhat  too 
definite.  — 15.  Give  me  a  present]  lit.  a  (real,  tangible)  blessing; 
Gen.  T^f^  I  S.  25^  30-<5  2  K.  5^^  ^o..— Thou  hast  put  me  in  the 
Negeb  j-egioti.]  §  Others,  thou  hast  given  me  the  Negeb  region,  \ 
which  is  grammatically  hard  to  justify,  and  yields  an  inferior  sense. 
The  district  of  Debir  to  which  Achsah  was  going  had  not  been  given 
to  her,  but  belonged  to  Othniel  by  conquest.  On  the  Negeb  see 
on  v.^ ;  as  the  root  is  not  in  use  in  Biblical  Hebrew,  it  is  inadmissi- 
ble to  render  it  here  appellatively,  a  dry  land ;  ^  nor  is  it  necessary 
to  emphasize  the  contrast  in  this  way,  the  scarcity  of  water  in  the 
Negeb  was  well  enough  known. — Give  me  Gullath-maim]  the 
words,  usually  translated  springs  or  wells  of  water,  are,  like  the 
following  Gullath-illith  and  Gullath-tahtith  ("  the  upper  springs 
and  the  nether  springs,"  RV.),  a  proper  name  of  alien  origin  and 

—  so  far  as  the  first  element  is  concerned  —  of  uncertain  mean- 
ing. If  Debir  is  rightly  identified  above  (on  v.-^"),  the  waters  so 
named  are  doubtless  those  of  Seil  ed-Dilbeh,  about  two-fifths  of 
the  way  from  Hebron  to  ed-Daharlyeh.  This  is  one  of  the  best 
watered  valleys  in  southern  Palestine,  counting  no  less  than  four- 
teen springs  and  having  even  at  the  end  of  the  dry  season  a  run- 
ning stream  three  or  four  miles  long.  The  springs  are  in  three 
groups :  the  first,  six  in  number,  at  the  head  of  the  valley ;  the 


*  ffiH  cf.  S,  Doom.,  Bu.  t  Abarb.,  Schm.,  Ba. 

X  Illustrations  from  the  modern  East,  Niebuhr,  Arabie?i,  p.  44,  50,  Relsebeschrei- 
bung,  i.  p.  139,  239  f. ;  Seetzen,  Re.isen,  iii,  p.  190  (Ba.). 
\  G&Z,  RV.,  Stud.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Cass.,  Reuss,  al. 
II  IL,  AV.,  Ra.,  Ki.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Ba.,  al. 
^  IL  terram  arcntcm,  Ke.,  Cass.,  cf.  Stud. 


I.  14-15  29 

second,  five  springs,  of  which  Ain  ed-Dilbeh  is  the  largest,  a  mile 
or  more  further  down  along  the  road  from  Hebron,  in  an  open 
valley ;  the  third,  smaller  springs  near  the  lower  end  of  the  Seil.* 
The  first  two  of  these  groups  may  very  well  be  the  Gullath-illith 
and  Gullath-tahtith  of  our  verse.  The  possession  of  these  springs 
must  always  have  been  a  matter  of  great  importance ;  and  the 
story  before  us  —  which  is  not  an  irrelevant  scrap  of  family  his- 
tory —  is  told  to  explain  or  establish  the  claim  of  Achsah,  a  branch 
of  the  Kenizzite  clan  Othniel  of  Debir,  to  waters  which  by  their 
situation  seemed  naturally  to  belong  to  the  older  hne,  the  Caleb- 
ites  of  Hebron. 

12.  -Iw'n]  without  explicit  antecedent;  Ges.^s  §  138,  2.  —  m^Si]  pf.  consec. 
after  ns''  -wa;  Dr.^  §  115  (p.  130  f.).  —  innji]  apodosis  of  a  virtual  conditional 
sentence;  cf.  Gen.  44^  Ex.  2ii3,  Qes.^o  §  112.  5,  a,  5;  Friedrich,  Die  hebr. 
Conditionals'dtze,  p.  66.  — 13.  ^Sd  irn  TJp  p  Snijpj;]  examples  of  apposition 
to  the  genitive,  i  S.  14^  2  S.  13^;  to  the  governing  noun,  i  S.  9^^-  i  S.  26^ 
I  K.  16'^  Is.  37^  &c.  — 14.  nxnD]  cannot  be,  at  the  moment  of  departure 
from  her  father's  house  (Drus.,  Ba.,  cf.  (gBai.  Jqs^  ^^  7.^  eKiropevea-dai,  ©^^  Jud. 
id.),  and  would  hardly  be  used  if  the  meaning  were,  as  they  were  on  the  way 
to  her  husband's  house  {%  Jos.,  cum  pergerent  simul;  Jud.,  quam  pergentem 
in  itinere  monuit  vir  suus,  &c.).  —  inrr'D.ni]  s/ie  itistigated  him :  the  verb  usually 
in  a  bad  sense,  i  K.  li^^  2  K.  iS^^  2  S.  24I  i  S.  26^^.  The  difficulty  occasioned 
by  the  gender  of  the  verb  and  its  suffix  is  evaded  by  all  the  versions  (exc.  ®) 
in  different  ways,  but  a  comparison  of  their  variations  in  Jos.  and  Jud.  is  not 
favourable  to  the  supposition  that  they  read  i^r'"'?.'!?  ^'•^  instigated  her  (Doom., 
Bu.) ;  nor  is  it  explained  how  this  easy  and  natural  reading  was  supplanted 
in  both  Jos.  and  Jud.  by  the  much  more  difficult  inr^Dni  of  |^.  Many  com- 
mentators harmonize.  She  urged  him  to  ask  for  the  field,  but,  finding  him 
unwilling,  undertook  the  business  herself  (Ki.,  LOsiander,  Cler.,  Be.,  Ke., 
Cass.) .  —  HTi'n]  the  field;  Jos.  \^^  better  mc*  a  field  ((gBMNai.  jud.  dyp6v); 
the  article  probably  dittography  of  the  preceding  n  (Stud.,  Doom.,  Hollenb.). 
—  njxm]  ms  only  here  (=Jos.  15I8)  and  4^^  (see  note  there).  It  is  not 
found  in  MH.,  and,  indeed,  a  root  r\yi  appears  only  in  Eth.  ('  await,  wait  for, 
lie  in  wait'),  after  which  J.  D.  Mich,  interprets  here,  When  she  reached  the 
end  of  her  journey  she  waited  upon  her  ass,  i.e.  did  not  dismount.  It  is  safer 
to  be  guided  by  the  context,  illustrated  by  the  passages  cited  above;  so  W^^, 
Rabb.  and  most.  <3  e^orjaev  or  dve^orjaev  (Jos.),  iydyyv^ev  [/cat  e/cpa^ei/]  (Jud.), 
2L  siispiravit,  probably  do  not  represent  a  different  text,  but  are  attempts  at 
the  unknown  word  guided  by  the  analogy  of  nis  (Is.  421^^  MH.)  or  njN;  the 
same  interpretation  in  the  Haggada,  Temurah  i6«.  — 15.    i'?  r\^r\']  Jos.  151^ 

*  See  -5"  WP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  301  f. 


30  JUDGES 

substitutes  the  more  common  r\}r\  under  the  influence  of  the  following  pM. — 
^jnnj  3Jjn  y-\i<  -"d]  the  suff.  cannot  be  indirect  obj.  (for  ^S)  or  second  obj.;  for 
if  such  a  construction  of  this  very  common  verb  had  been  possible  in  Heb. 
we  should  have  had  other  examples  of  it  in  the  O.T.  or  MH.  In  the  sense, 
^kou  hast  put  me  into  the  Negeb  region,  we  might  desiderate  the  prep.,  ^'in  Sn 
3Jjn  (cf.  2  S.  11^^),  or 'jn  I'nx^;  but  the  ace.  of  place  is  perhaps  sufficient, 
especially  if  we  may  suppose  that  the  original  text  had  :iJjn  nx-\N  (Gen.  20I),* 
which  would  exclude  all  ambiguity;  the  loss  of  n  local  before  the  article 
(haplography)  is  not  infrequent.  —  D^r)  nVj]  is  a  proper  name  like  niijnti'D 
D>D  (niJitt'o)  Jos.  11^  13^;  so  rightly  ^  Jos.  151^  TcoXad/xaL/x,  Euseb.,  OS^.  24534 
cf.  12727,  Schm.  This  appears  more  clearly  in  riTinn  nSj,  n'''?;?  nSj]  fH  gtdloth 
(pi.) ;  the  discord  of  number  thus  needlessly  created  has  led  in  Jos.  to  mis- 
correction  of  the  adjj.  (ni^nnn^  ri'i"'?;;  Th\) ;  the  older  and  correct  tradition  in 
(5  Jos.  15^^  rT\v  TcoXaO  ttjv  dvca  Kal  Tr]v  TcoXad  rrjv  kcltcj,  'A  Jud.  I^^  ttjv 
ToXkad  K.T.i.  Golath  (or  Gullath)  is  a  fern.  sg.  with  the  old  ending  at  which 
is  preserved  in  many  Canaanite  names  of  places,  e.g.  Zephath  v.^'^,  Baalath 
I  Ki.  9!^,  Sarephath  17^  (Bo.  i.  p.  413).  That  the  name  is  of  Canaanite  (not 
Israelite)  origin  is  manifest  from  the  adjj.  ri^?^,  n^nnn,  for  which  we  have  in 
Hebrew  only  njvS;?,  njinnn;  e.g.  n:vh';r\  n^nan  Is.  7^.  It  is  idle,  therefore,  to 
seek  for  it  a  meaning  and  etymology  in  Hebrew;  nSj,  i  K.  y^^-  ^  Zech.  4^-  ^ 
gives  no  light.  The  word  was  unknown  to  the  ancient  translators;  (3  renders 
(in  Jud.)  XirpoxTiu  vdaros,  associating  it  with  dSnj;  11,^®  merely  guess  from 
the  context,  'watering-place,  well-watered  spot';  the  common  interpretation, 
*  springs '  (Ra.,  Ki.,  al.  mu.)  has  no  other  origin.f 

On  Caleb  and  the  kindred  clans  see  Noldeke,  Die  Amalekiter,  1864,  p.  20; 
Untersuchiingen  zur  Kritik  des  A.  T.,  1869,  p.  176-179;  Graf,  Der  Stamm 
Simeon,  1866,  p.  16-18;  Kuenen,  Godsdienst  van  Israel,  i.  p.  139  ff.,  177  ff.. 
Religion  of  Israel,  i.  p.  135  ff.,  1768".;  esp.  Wellhausen,  De  gentibits  et  fa- 
miliis  yiidaeis,  etc.,  1870;    Compositioji  des  Hexateuchs,  p.  337  f. 

Caleb  and  Othniel  are  branches  of  the  Bene  Kenaz,  an  Edomite  tribe 
(Gen.  3611- 1^-^-),  closely  related  to  Jerachmeel.  :^  These  clans,  separating 
from  the  main  stock  of  their  people,  found  new  homes,  Jerachmeel  in  the 
eastern  Negeb,  Caleb  in  the  hill  country  north  of  it  as  far  as  Hebron.  The 
latter,  the  more  settled  branch  of  the  Kenizzites,  eventually  coalesced  with 
their  northern  neighbours  of  Judah,  and  came  to  be  reckoned  one  of  the  chief 
clans  of  that  tribe  (cf.  Nu.  136  34I9  i  Chr.  29- is^- 42ff).  §  In  David's  time, 
however,  Caleb  was  still  distinct  from  Judah  (i  S.  30!^),  and  Jos.  i^^  cl.  14*5^- 


*  In  the  Hexat.  ajjn  }»nN  is  characteristic  of  E;  Di.,  NDJ.  p.  618. 

t  M.  A.  Levy  {Phoniz.  Stud.,  i.  p.  26)  thought  that  the  words  D?;n  rhh  were  to 
be  read  in  a  Punic  inscription  (Num.  8,  Ges.,  Mon.  Phoen.,  tab.  47),  but  the  deci- 
pherment is  probably  false. 

X  Compare  also  the  names  in  the  genealogies  of  Caleb  and  Jerachmeel,  i  Chr. 
2.  4,  with  the  Edomite  genealogies,  i  Chr.  i ;  We.,  De gentibus,  p.  38  f. 

\  The  Chronicles  hardly  know  any  other  Judahites. 


I.  15-16  51 

explains  how  Caleb  came  to  be  settled  in  the  midst  of  Judah.  The  Calebites, 
as  has  been  intimated,  probably  made  their  way  into  their  new  seats  from  the 
south;  their  old  homes  lay  near  the  passes  from  that  quarter,  and  a  reminis- 
cence of  the  fact  seems  to  be  preserved  in  the  story  of  the  spies,  in  which  —  in 
its  original  form  —  Caleb  alone  maintains  the  possibility  of  a  successful  inva- 
sion from  that  side,  and  receives  Hebron  as  the  reward  of  his  faith  (Nu.  13 
Jos.  i^^'^-).*  From  the  emphasis  of  the  exception  it  is  to  be  inferred  that 
Caleb  alone,  not  Judah,  entered  from  this  direction. 

16.  A  branch  of  the  Kenites  accompany  Judah  to  the  vicinity 
of  Arad ;  then,  going  on  to  the  south,  join  their  kinsmen  (Ama- 
lek).  — The  text  has  suffered  badly,  and  the  restoration  is  at  more 
than  one  point  doubtful ;  the  general  sense,  however,  is  sufficiently 
certain.  The  Hebrew  has,  an{/  the  sons  of  .  .  .  Kenite,^  Moses'' 
father-in-law,  went  tip,  &c.  The  apparent  lacuna  is  filled  in  (3 
by  supplying  the  name,  Jethro  (Ex.  3^),  or,  better,  Hobab  (Nu. 
10^^  Jud.  4^^),  and  inserting  the  article,  the  Kenite.  E.  Meyer 
would  substitute  the  clan  name,  as  in  all  other  cases  in  the  chap- 
ter, reading,  Kain,  %  the  brother-in-law  of  Moses,  went  np,  &c. 
In  view  of  4"  it  seems  to  me  preferable  to  restore,  and  Hobab  the 
Kenite,  Moses'  father-i?t-law,  went  up ;  see  critical  note.  —  From 
the  Palm  City']  3^^  Jericho,  the  Palm  City,  Dt.  34^  2  Chr.  28^^ 
The  situation  of  Jericho  suits  3^^  and  the  verse  before  us.  The 
Palm  City  is  named,  not  as  the  old  home  of  the  Kenites,  §  which 
Hobab  had  long  before  left  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  Israel,  ||  but  as 
the  point  from  which  he  set  out  with  Judah  on  this  campaign.  The 
narrative  represents  the  invaders  as  coming  down  from  the  north 
(Jerusalem,  Hebron,  Debir,  Arad,  Zephath)  ;  and  v.^"^  cl.  v."  sup- 
pose that  Judah  and  Joseph  set  out  from  the  same  place,  proba- 
bly the  Jordan  valley  near  Gilgal  (2^;  see  also  on  i--).  Jericho 
is,  therefore,  entirely  suitable  here,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  look 
for  another  palm  city  in  the  south.  —  To  the  wilderness  of  Judah 
which  is  in  the  Negeb  of  Arad~\  belonging  to,  or  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of,  that  city.  So,  rather  than  /;/  the  south  of  Arad*^  He- 
brew usage  seems  to  require  us  to  translate;    cf.  i  S.  27^"  30^'*. 


*  We.,  Co7np.,  p.  337  f. 

t  RV.,  "The  children  of  the  Kenite,"  tacitly  emends  by  supplying  the  article. 

X  Jud.  4II.  §  Bertheau. 

II  Nu.  io32  (J)  with  its  original  sequel.         ^  English  version  and  most  scholars. 


32  JUDGES 

Arad  (Nu.  21^  SS'^^Jos.  12^^*)  is  generally  identified  with  Tell  Arad, 
a  round  detached  hill  about  16  Eng.  miles  S.  of  Hebron.^  The 
language  of  the  text  appears  self-contradictory ;  the  Wilderness  of 
Judah,  the  barren  steeps  in  which  the  mountains  break  down  to 
the  Dead  Sea,t  and  the  Negeb  are  distinct  regions  (see  above  on 
v.'-^),and  it  hardly  seems  possible  that  a  part  of  the  Wilderness 
could  be  described  as  lying  in  the  Negeb  of  Arad.  The  suspicion 
is  strengthened  by  the  variation  of  (g,  which  has  at  the  pass  (de- 
scent) of  Arad  (cf.  Jos.  10^^).  It  is  very  doubtful,  however, 
whether  this  represents  the  original  reading  of  J^,  as  Doorninck 
and  Budde  assume.  — And  he  went  and  dwelt  ivith  the  Amalekites'\ 
leaving  Judah,  he  continued  southward  into  the  desert  and  made 
his  home  with  the  nomadic  Amalekites.  So  one  of  the  principal 
recensions  of  (§ ;  ^  has  with  the  people,  which  would  also  be  ■ 
possible  if  we  might,  with  a  sHght  emendation,  read  his  people; 
i.e.,  the  main  body  of  the  Kenites.  The  sense  would  be  substan- 
tially the  same,  for  the  Kenites  were  neighbours  and  kinsmen  of 
the  Amalekites  (i  S.  15*^)  ;  see  below. 

nti'D  jnn  irp  •'J^i]  when  the  gentile  adj.  is  used  of  an  individual,  as  is  sup- 
posed by  RV.  here,  the  article  is  indispensable;  it  can  only  be  dropped  where 
the  gent.  adj.  has  become  by  appropriation  a  personal  name,  or  where  it  is 
personified  and  takes  the  place  of  the  eponymic  ancestor,  as  in  Gen.  36^2 
(■'"^n),  &c,  I  The  only  grammatical  translation  of  the  text  as  it  stands  is  the 
sons  of  Keni  (n.  pr.) ;  so  the  Midrash,  Mechilta,  Jithro  I,  fol.  65*  Weiss,  &c. 
(g  supplies  the  missing  name;  @bn  \oQop  =  nn^  Ex.  3I;  ^^'^  %  t  Iw/3aj3,  ^fe 
Iwa^  =  nnn  Jud.  4I1  Nu.  10^9.  Stud,  and  Mey.  infer  that  neither  name  stood 
in  the  Heb.  copies  before  these  translators;  but  Jethro  may  be  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  more  frequent  name  of  Moses'  father-in-law  for  the  unfamiliar 
Hobab  (cf  \oBop  for  PaYouT^X  Ex.  2^8  in  many  codd.).  In  view  of  the  sg. 
verbs  in  v.^  §  it  is  probable  that  the  original  reading  was  Hobab  the  Kenite, 
rather  than  the  sons  of  Hobab  (see  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sa?n.,  p.  9  n.,  86).  Mey.'s  at- 
tractive conj.  rh';  n^'D  |nn  |>pi  is  approved  by  Kue,  {HCO-.  i.  p.  367)  and  Bu. 


*  On  Tell  Arad  see  Schubert,  Reise,  ii.  p.  457  f. ;  Rob.,  BR'^.  ii.  p.  loi,  201 ;  Van 
de  Velde,  Narrative,  ii.  p.  83  f. ;  Palmer,  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  402 ;  Guerin 
Judce,  iii.  p.  182  f.;  SWP.  Me}?toirs,  iii.  p.  403,  415. 

t  Especially,  it  would  seem,  in  the  northern  part ;  En-gedi  is  the  most  southern 
in  the  list  of  towns  in  this  region,  Jos.  1$^^^-. 

X  The  apparent  exceptions  are  all,  for  one  reason  or  another,  suspicious ;  see 
Roorda,  Gram.  Hebr.,  \  OfTzfin. 

\  The  plur.  in  the  first  verb,  iS>\  is  natural  conformation  to  the  newsubj.  "i^p  "iji. 


!•  »6  33 

(p.  9,  but  see  p.  86);  but  4^1  obstinately  stands  in  the  way.  Even  if  the 
words  H'^'D  ynn  22n  '•J2D  there  are  a  gloss  (Mey.,  Bu.),  or  the  whole  verse  a 
late  interpolation  (Matthes,  Kuc),  the  knowledge  that  Moses'  father-in-law 
was  a  Kenite,  of  which  there  is  no  other  intimation  in  the  O.T.,  must  have 
been  derived  from  i^^. —  inh]  —  //^^  o-ir/'s  father,  19*,  njnn  wife's  mother,  Dt. 
27-^  cl.  Lev.  20I*;  cf.  Ex,  1 81- 2  Jethro,  Moses'  father-in-law.  So  here  ^^, 
Mechilta,  Ra.,  Ki.,  al.  Many  scholars  render  ir)n  when  used  of  Hobab  (Jud. 
4^^  ji*^;  some  also  Nu.  lo"^'-^,  where,  however,  a  different  construction  is  possi- 
ble), brothe7'-in-lazu  (Thdt.,  Luth.,  Cler.,  Be.,  Ba,,  Ke.,  Cass.,  Reuss,  Bu.,  Kitt., 
AV.,  RV.,  al.  mu.).     Others  more  indefinitely,  relative  (it  cognatus),  relative 

by  marriage  {ajjinis,  Schm.).  It  is  not  impossible  that  I^n,  like  Ar.  ^^JCi*., 
may  have  been  used  in  the  wider  sense  of  a  man's  wife's  near  kinsmen,  such 
as  her  father,  or  brother  (Abulw.,  Ibn  Ezra) ;  but  there  is  no  certain  instance 
in  the  O.T.  of  any  other  meaning  than  father-in-law,  with  which  also  the 
participial  form  better  accords  (cf.  Stade,  ZATW.  vi.  p.  143  n.).  The  pas- 
sages in  the  Pent,  which  refer  to  Moses'  marriage  are  conflicting  and  baffle 
analysis;  cf.  Ex.  2I6-22;  3I.4I8  igiff.;  Nu.  lo'^^  Jud.  4II  (ii^).  According  to 
E  his  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Jethro,  a  Midianite  ;  J  seems  to  have  represented 
him  as  marrying  the  daughter  of  Hobab  ben  Reuel,*  a  Kenite,  but  the  redac- 
tion has  introduced  great  confusion.  —  onDnn  -113?]  on  the  palms  of  Jericho 
see  Theophrast.,  hist,  plant.,  ii.  6,  8;  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  763;  Fl,  Jos.,  h.j.  iv.  8,  3; 
i.  6,  6;  Plin.,  n.  h.,  v.  70;  xiii.  44,  &c.;  Arab  authors  (Muqaddasi,  Yaqut) 
in  Le  Strange,  Palestine  tinder  the  Moslems,  p.  396  f.  They  have  now  en- 
tirely disappeared.  Of  Jericho  the  name  Palm  City  is  here  understood  by 
Sifre  on  Num.  io29-32^  §  78,  81  (fol.  20*  21^  ed.  Friedm.),  Ra.,  Thdt., 
Procop.,  and  most  commentators.  Cler,  suggested  the  (poiviKibv  described  by 
Diod.  Sic,  iii.  42,  Strabo,  xvi,  p.  776,  on  the  Arabian  shore  of  the  Red  Sea 
(cf,  Ptol.,  vi.  7,  3);  see  Bochart,  Phaleg,  ii.  c.  22  (i.  p,  118  ed.  Villemandy). 
Others  have  thought  of  Tamar,  Ez.  471^  48^8  (^  Jericho)  perhaps  also 
I  K.  9I8,  at  the  SE,  hmit  of  the  Holy  Land;  probably  Qafxapco,  Ptol.,  v.  16 
8,  Qafxapa,  Euseb.,  OS.-  21034,  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Aila,  which 
Rob.  (BP.'^  ii.  p., 202)  would  locate  at  Kurnub.  —  "i-\;;]  seems  to  be  named 
in  the  Egypt,  king  Shishak's  (Shoshenq)  lists  of  conquests  in  Palestine;  see 
W.  M.  Muller,  Asien  und  Europa,  u,  s.  w,,  p,  168.  The  Onomastica  put  it 
down  at  20  R.  m.  from  Hebron,  4  m.  from  Malatha,  which  corresponds  suffi- 
ciently closely  with  the  situation  of  Tell  Arad,  From  Nu.  21 1,  where  the 
Israelites  on  their  first  advance  from  the  south  suffer  a  repulse  at  the  hands 
of  the  king  of  Arad,  we  should  rather  look  for  Arad  in  the  southern  Negeb, 
near  the  border  of  the  desert;  but  it  is  unsafe  to  lay  great  stress  upon  this.f 
Mey.  {ZATW.  i.  p.  132,  137  n.)  regards  -rr)  in  Jud.  i^''  as  a  misplaced  mar- 
ginal correction  of  r\Q'i,  v.i",  and  accordingly  restores  nny  in  \P  (in  conformity 
with  Nu.  21I-3)  and  cancels  it  in  v.^^;   see  contra,  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p,  10  f, 

*  Reuel  is  an  Edomite  clan  ;  Gen,  364- 10.  f  See  below,  on  v.i?. 

D 


34  JUDGES 

—  in;;  3JJ3  itrx  min>  n^nn]  o»  Z/^.?  south  of  A.  would  be  not  niy  3JJ3,  but  3jjn 
Ti;"S;  cf.  py  pS  DTp::  Gen.  32*,  ^p  jiDi-D  Jos.  8",  >;;S  D^a  Jos.  8^,  &c.  The  va- 
rious recensions  of  ®  all  have  kirl  Kara^daeoos  ApaS  =  Tiy  T\ir:a ;  in  other 
respects  they  differ  considerably.  Doom,  and  Bu.,  following  (g^L  g  j  ^/y  ^^^ 
epTj/xov  'lovSa  T^j'  odcrav  ev  T(f  p6t({3  eirl  /cara^do-ews  Apad,  and  rejecting  ev  t^J 
y6ry  as  false  doublet  (in  Heb.  3JJ3,  niiD3)  to  iirl  /carajScitrea;?,  restore  n^iD 
nnV  nniD3  t^n  min>.  But  'Ioj55a  does  not  belong  to  the  original  text  of  @;  it 
is  lacking  in  (3^^,  asterisked  in  g,  and  stands  in  (3^  in  a  different  place; 
presumably  it  was  not  in  the  Hebrew  from  which  they  translated.  I  propose 
a  different  solution;  viz.,  that  n-naj  (^tti  /cara/Sdo-ews)  is  an  old  error  for  -imD:3, 
as  in  Jos.  8^*;  2i:2  y^a  is  a  gloss  to  ti;j  from  Nu.  21I  introduced  into  the 
text  in  the  wrong  place;  n-nni  a  natural  complement  to  nji?:3  *  thus  left 
without  a  genitive.  It  may  be  added  in  confirmation  that,  if  Arad  be  rightly 
identified  with  Tell  Arad,  there  is  no  steep  pass  (t^to)  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  it  (see  Guerin,  Judee,  iii.  p.  182).  —  D>^"^  nx  ^a^M  "[S^i]  /^erd  rov  Xaov 
AfiaXrjK  (B^  j[t.t  Tov  Xaov  is  doublet,  corrected  after  |§  D^jn;  the  translator  read 
pSnj;  nx  (Hollenberg,  ZATW.  i.  p.  102;  Mey.,  Kue.),  or,  in  view  of  D;;n  in 
1^,  better,  ^pScyn  nx  (Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  9  f.,  Kitt.,  Dr.,  TBS.  p.  93).  As 
this  is  not  suggested  by  the  context  and  cannot  well  have  arisen  by  accident, 
while  it  admirably  agrees  with  the  facts  (i  S.  15^  &c.),  it  may  be  confidently 
adopted.  Otherwise  we  might  emend  id;;  nx.  We  reconstruct  accordingly, 
.^p^'r:';ry  nx  2-z^>^  iSm  ni;;  naiD  n-nn>  ^12  nx  onDon  -\^^'o  rhy  ni:'D  ]T\n  ^i^prs  33ni 
On  the  Kenites  see  Andr.  Murray,  Comm.  de  Kinaeis,  Hamburg,  1718°; 
Noldeke,  Die  A?nalekiter,  p.  19  ff. ;  Wellhausen,  De  gentibus,  etc.,  p.  30  ff.; 
Kuenen,  Godsdienst,  i.  p.  179  ff.  =  Religion  of  Israel,  i.  p.  179  ff.;  Stade,  *'  Das 
Kainszeichen,"  ZA  TW.  xiv.  p.  250  ff.  The  Kenites  are  frequently  associated 
with  the  Amalekites  (i  S.  15*^  Nu.  2420-22^  cf.  also  Gen.  3610-12)^  ^nd  were  in 
all  probability  a  branch  of  that  people.  %  But  while  Amalek  was  hostile  and 
treacherous  (Dt.  25!^^-  Ex.  178-16)^  the  Kenites  were  friendly  to  Israel,  and 
according  to  J  allied  by  marriage  to  Moses.  The  original  sequel  of  Nu. 
io29-32  Q^  no  doubt  narrated  that  Hobab,  yielding  to  Moses'  importunity, 
accompanied  Israel  in  its  further  migration.  In  the  invasion  Hobab  con- 
sorted with  Judah  (Jud.  i^^)  and  followed  that  tribe  into  the  south,  §  but,  true 
to  his  Bedawin  instincts,  soon  roamed  beyond  the  border  into  the  pastures  of 
his  kinsmen  of  Amalek.  The  old  relations  between  the  Kenites  and  Judah 
were  maintained,  however,  in  the  time  of  David  (i  S.  27^0  cf.  3o29).     Later 

*  In  ®B  to  3JJ3. 

t  (KB_  which  belongs  to  this  family,  has  here,  as  in  a  good  many  other  places 
been  revised. 

X  The  Kenites  belong  to  the  same  group  with  the  Kennizzites  (Gen.  36,  cf.  151^). 
The  common  opinion  that  they  were  closely  related  to  the  Midianites  is  at  variance 
with  all  that  we  know  about  the  two  peoples,  and  rests  only  on  the  harmony  which 
editors  and  commentators  have  forced  upon  the  divergent  traditions  of  J  and  E. 
The  connexion  of  the  Rechabites  (Jer,  35)  with  the  Kenites  (i  Chr.  a^S)  is  also 
very  doubtful.  §  Note  the  towns  pp  Jos.  15^7^  nj>p  1522, 


I.  16-17  35 

the  feeling  of  the  Israelites  was  less  friendly  (Nu.  24-"^ ).  In  Jud.  4  we  find  a 
sept  of  the  Kenites,  Heber,  pitching  their  tents  far  in  the  North;  see  comm. 
on  4^1. 

17.  Judah  helps  Simeon  to  destroy  Zephath-Hormah. — Ac- 
cording to  the  agreement  (v;"^),  the  aUies  next  invade  the  territory 
of  Simeon  in  the  south  of  Judah.  —  Zephatli^  the  name  only  here  ; 
see  below  on  Hormah.  —  They  devoted  it\  to  destruction,  razing 
the  town  and  exterminating  its  inhabitants,  to  the  glory  of  Yah- 
weh;  cf.  21^1  Nu.  31  Dt.  i''  3^  &c.,  Jos.  S^^""-  io-«'^-  ii"fl^-,  &c., 
esp.  I  S.  iS'"'^'.  According  to  Dt.  f-  20^''^-  the  wars  with  the  Ca- 
naanites  were  always  to  be  such  holy  wars  of  extermination.  Simi- 
larly the  Moabite  king  Mesha  records  in  his  inscription  how  at  the 
bidding  of  Kemosh  he  took  Nebo  from  Israel  and  put  to  death 
the  whole  population,  "  men  and  boys,  wives  and  maidens,  and 
slave  girls;  for  to  Ashtar-Kemosh  I  devoted  it"  (1.  i6  f.)  ;  and 
again  of  Ataroth,  "  I  killed  all  the  people  of  the  city,  a  fine  sight  ( ?) 
for  Kemosh  and  Moab  !  "  (1.  n  f.)  ;  cf.  also  2  K.  8'-.*  — 6"^  the 
city  came  to  be  called  Horma]i\  because  it  had  been  visited  with 
the  herem  ;  "  Devoted  City."  The  same  explanation  of  the  name 
Nu.  21^  The  etymology  is  scarcely  historical;  Hormah  more 
probably  signified  "  inviolable,  sacred  "  ;  cf.  Hermon.  Hormah 
was  a  city  of  southern  Judah  (i  S.  30'*)  t  towards  the  frontier  of 
Edom  (Jos.  15^°  cl.  v.^^),  \  occupied  by  Simeonites  (Jos.  19*  i  Chr. 
4^).  In  the  catalogues  it  regularly  precedes  Ziklag  ;  cf.  also  Nu. 
14^  Dt.  I**.  The  data  are  insufficient  to  fix  the  locahty,  and  no 
trace  of  the  name  has  been  discovered.  According  to  our  verse 
the  native  name  of  the  place  was  Zephath,  which  Robinson  would 
connect  with  the  pass  Naqb  es-Safa,  SE.  of  Kurnub,  §  while  Row- 
lands and  many  recent  writers  would  identify  with  Sebata  or  Sebaita, 
two  and  a  half  hours  S.  of   Khalaseh.  ||      It  is,  however,  highly 

*  On  the  herem  see  Ew.,  Alterthilmer^ ,  p.  loi  ff.,  =  Antiquities,  p.  75  ff. ;  Merx. 
BL.,  Ri.,  HWD.,  Riietschi,  PRE^.  s.  v.  "  Bann  "  ;  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  Semites, 
Lect,  iv.  and  esp.  Add.  note,  p.  427-435 ;  Stade,  G  VI.  i.  p.  490  f. 

t  Named,  as  here,  immediately  after  the  Kenites  of  the  Negeb. 

X  Jos.  15  represents  Idumaea  as  contiguous  to  Judaea  along  its  whole  southern 
frontier,  as  it  was  in  fact  after  the  exile.  §  BR^.  ii.  p.  181. 

II  Rowlands  in  Williams,  Holy  City^,  i.  p.  464 ;  Tuch,  ZDMG.  i.  p.  185 ;  Wilton, 
The  Negeb,  p.  198-206;  Palmer,  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  p.  371  ff.  The  place  had 
been  previously  visited  by  Seetzen,  Reisen,  iii.  p.  44. 


36  JUDGES 

improbable  that  the  old  Canaanite  name  Zephath  should  have  sur- 
vived to  our  time,  while  Hormah,  the  name  by  which  alone  the 
place  is  known  in  the  O.T.  history,  has  entirely  perished. 

17.  nniN  iDnnn]  the  Hiph.  is  denom.  fr.  D-in.  The  primary  meaning  of 
the  latter  is  not  very  remote  from  r^p;  both  denote  inviolabihty,  and,  in  a 
rehgious  sense,  withdrawal  from  common  use  or  contact.  But  in  the  further 
development  of  this  idea  in  Heb,  they  go  in  opposite  directions:  ,Z'-\p  apphes 
to  things  which  God  appropriates  to  himself  because  he  chooses  them  for  his 
pleasure  or  service;  Din  to  things  which  he  prohibits  to  men  because  he  hates 
them  with  peculiar  hatred.  Both  are  inviolable :  the  first  are  holy,  and  it  is 
sacrilege  to  pervert  them  to  profane  uses;  the  second  are  also. sacrosanct,  and 
whatever  touches  them  contracts  the  same  character  and  is  doomed  to  the 
same  fate.  They  thus  represent  opposite  sides  of  the  common  idea  of  ^adoo 
(on  which  see  Fraser,  £nc.  Brit^.  xxiii.  p.  15  ff.).  The  root  vyp  is  found, 
only  in  the  North  Semitic  languages;  Din  in  them  all,  cf.  Ar.  f»v^»-,  (•'V^»-» 
iV:)^.^;  Nabat.  Din,  'inviolable,'  Euting  28f.  and  p.  28;  Palmyr.,  de  Vogiie, 
35;  Himyar.,  Halevy,  50,  1762,  &c.*  —  nain  T'j^n  oa*  nx  xipn]  the  use  of  the 
3  sg.  m.  with  inherent  indef.  subj.  (miscalled  'impersonal')  is  not  infrequent 
in  this  verb;  2  S.  2I6  Gen.  ii^  161*  1922,  Ges.25  §  144,  3  a.  — From  Nu.  2ii-3 
it  would  appear  that  the  older  native  name  of  Hormah  was  Arad,  and  that, 
with  the  neighbouring  Canaanite  cities,  it  was  destroyed  by  Israel  during  their 
earlier  wanderings  in  revenge  for  hostile  acts  of  its  king;  whence  its  name 
Hormah.  Critics  who  do  not,  Hke  Cass.,  Ba.,  assume  that  the  city  was  twice 
destroyed  and  renamed,  explain  Nu.  21^  as  narrating  by  anticipation  the 
destruction  of  the  place  by  Judah  and  Simeon,  Jud.  i^'^  (Stud.,  Kn.,  Ew.,  Be., 
We.,  Mey.,  Di.).  On  this  hypothesis  it  must  be  assumed,  further,  that 
Zephath  and  Arad  (both  equivalent  to  Hormah)  designate  the  same  place, 
which  creates  a  fresh  difficulty.!  A  more  probable  solution  is,  that  the  words 
n-\;7  "^Sd  in  Nu.  21I  are  an  interpolation;  %  they  disturb  the  structure  of  the 
verse  and  make  serious  difficulty  with  v.^.  If  the  words  are  omitted,  DipD  (v.  3) 
is  the  region  in  which  the  destroyed  cities  stood,  which  also  better  suits 
Nu.  14'*^  Dt.  I**  (from  Seir  to  Hormah).  It  is  then  not  necessary  to  connect 
Nu.  21I-3  with  Jud.  li'^  in  any  way;  they  contain  two  explanations  of  the 
name  Hormah. — The  identifications  proposed  by  Rob.  and  Rowlands  are 
founded  upon  Nu.  2li-3,  both  assuming  that  the  attack  on  the  Canaanites 
proceeded  from  Kadesh;  es-Safa  is  a  pass  leading  into  the  mountains  from 
'Ain  el-Weibeh  (Robinson's  Kadesh);  Sebaita  lies  north  of  'Ain  Qudes 
(Rowlands'  Kadesh);    neither  is  anywhere   near  Tell   Arad.  —  On   Simeon, 


*  Noldeke  in  Euting,  /.  c. 

t  Mey.  removes  this  by  writing  inj?  for  nox  in  Jud.  ii7 ;  see  above  on  v.i6. 

X  The  name  may  have  come,  by  association  with  Hormah,  from  Jos.  lai^. 


I.  17-19  37 

see  Dozy,  Die  Israeliten  zti  Mekka,  1864;   Graf,  Der  Stamm  Simeon^  1866; 
Wellhausen,  Cotnp'?,  Nachtrage,  p.  353-355;  Stade,  GVI.  i.  p.  152  ff. 

18,  19.  The  Coast  Plain. — The  two  verses  flatly  contradict 
each  other ;  v.^^  tells  us  that  Judah  captured  the  three  principal 
cities  of  the  plain,  Gaza  in  the  south,  Ashkelon  in  the  middle,  and 
Ekron  in  the  north,  with  their  territory.  That  is  in  effect  the 
whole  region  occupied  in  latter  times  by  the  Philistine  confed- 
eracy ;  v.^'^  says  that  Judah,  with  the  help  of  Yahweh,  got  posses- 
sion of  the  mountainous  interior,  but  was  unable  to  conquer  the 
lowlands,  where  the  formidable  war-chariots  of  the  natives  could 
operate.  This  agrees  with  3^  Jos.  13'^,  where  Philistia,  like  Phoe- 
nicia and  Coele-Syria,  is  represented  as  being  a  part  of  Canaan 
which  Israel  did  not  conquer.*  The  hypothesis  that  Judah  took 
these  cities  in  the  first  onset,  but  was  unable  to  maintain  its  hold 
on  the  plain,t  does  not  relieve  the  difficulty  in  our  verses  ;  a  writer 
who  meant  that  must  have  expressed  himself  quite  otherwise  in 
v.^^.  The  phraseology  of  v.^^  is  also  strikingly  different  from  that 
of  the  rest  of  the  chapter.  Nothing  remains  but  to  pronounce 
v.^^  an  editorial  addition  of  the  same  stamp  as  v.^  and  of  equally 
unhistorical  character.  I  — 19.  Yahwehwaswith  Judah'\  \p-.  The 
Highlafids']  see  above,  on  v.  9.  The  position  of  the  verse  sug- 
gests the  question  whether  the  Judaean  Negeb  is  tacitly  included, 
so  that  Highlands  as  a  desigfiatio  a  potiori  has  here  a  wider  ex- 
tension ;  §  or  whether  the  Negeb,  occupied  by  Caleb,  Othniel, 
Kain,  and  Simeon,  is  distinguished  from  the  possessions  of  Judah 
proper.  ||  Meyer,  however,  with  good  reason,  restores  v.^^-  -^  to  their 
natural  place  after  v.''.^  —  They  were  unable  to  expel,  6^^.]  see 
critical  note.  —  The  Plaiii\  is  here  as  in  v.^'*,  the  coast  plain  west 
of  Judah,  in  which  the  cities  named  in  v.^^  stood.**  Others  ft 
take  the  word  i^emeq)  collectively  for  the  wide  valleys  in  the 
mountains  of  Judah,  such  as  the  Emeq  Rephaim  near  Jerusalem 


*  Jos.  1545-47  (R;  Di.)  includes  the  Philistine  cities  in  the  list  of  towns  belong- 
ing to  Judah,  in  conformity  with  v.12  which  makes  the  (ideal)  boundary  of  the 
tribe  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

t  Ki.  and  Abarb.  on  33;  a  Lyra,  Schm.  {qu.  14),  Ew.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Ba. 

X  Mey.,  Bu.,  Kitt.,  Renan,  Hist.,  \.  p.  246;  cf.  Stud. 

§  Bertheau.  .  ||  Bachmann.  H  So  also  Bu.,  Kitt. 

**  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  2,  4,  Thdt.,  qu.  6,  Stud.,  Ke.,  Be.,  and  most.  -ft  Ba. 


38  JUDGES 

(2  S.  ^^^),  Emeq  ha-Elah  (i  S.  if),  &c. ;  but  these  would  be  un- 
tenable, even  with  chariots,  after  Judah  had  taken  the  hill  cities. 
— Iron  chariots\  4^  Jos.  \f-'^-^^\  Probably  of  wood,  strengthened 
or  studded  with  iron ;  *  cu7'rus  falcati  (iL)  seems  to  be  an  archae- 
ological anachronism.  Chariots  were,  as  the  Egyptian  monuments 
prove,  a  strong  arm  in  the  military  establishment  of  the  Palestin- 
ian and  Hittite  kingdoms,  whence  they  were  introduced  into 
Egypt. 

18.  rnin-"  noSii]  ^\%  t  harmonizing,  ovk  iKXrjpovSfnja-eVy-f  which  Ziegler 
(cf.  Cler.)  and  Doom,  accept,  explaining  ^D^>^  ^  as  transcriptional  error  for 
n^V  nb\  But  if  v.i^  had  originally  been  prefaced  by  such  a  statement,  it 
would  probably  have  been  differently  introduced  {e.g.  'Ji  n-nn>  hn  n>n  nin>  o); 
observe  also  i^^  (v.^-i^i^),  and  esp.  nSnj)  (as  i  S.  7I*  and  often)  instead  of 
n\-iij3,  elsewhere  throughout  the  chapter.  J  Bu.  (^Richt.  u.  Sain.,  p.  6  n.) 
supposes  that  v.i^,  except  the  first  two  words,  was  originally  a  gloss  to  pD;7n 
v.  19;  the  contradictory  beginnings  of  the  verse  in  ||^  and  (g  proceed  from  two 
different  scribes  who  independently  introduced  the  gloss  into  the  text.  The 
statements  of  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  2,  4  §  128  and  v.  3,  i  §  177,  are  manifestly  de- 
rived from  our  text,  but  agree  neither  with  it  nor  with  each  other.  —  On  the 
cities  named  in  v.is  see  DB^;  on  Gaza  also  below  on  16I,  on  Ashkelon,  on 
14I9.  — 19.  tynin'?  nS]  that  this  mode  of  expression  is  abstractly  possible 
must  perhaps  be  admitted,  though  there  is  no  complete  parallel ;  cf.  Am.  6I'', 
Dr.3  §  202,  2;  Ges.25  §  114  n.  2.  But  in  the  context  the  impersonal,  it  was 
i??ipossible  to  expel,  is  less  suitable  than  he  (Judah)  was  tmable  to  expel. 
Jos.  150^  1712  make  it  most  probable  that  the  author  wrote  tt^mnS  hy>  nS;  cf. 
also  ©IL^;  §  the  verb  So^  was  cancelled  by  R  or  a  scribe  on  dogmatic 
grounds.  ^  relieves  the  difficulty  by  premising  "  after  they  had  sinned  "  (cf. 
27.  lOff.-) .  2^jj  anonymous  commentator  in  Cat.  Niceph.  writes,  o^k  Tjdvvridrjcrav, 
OVK  iirl  d5vva/xia  etprjTai,  dXX'  iirl  pa6vfxiq..\\ — B'mn  cannot  be  always  trans- 
lated by  the  same  English  word,  but  is  to  be  rendered  according  to  the 
context,  '  conquer,  occupy,  expel,'  &c.  —  pDj;]  is  etymologically  a  deep  depres- 


*  See  the  description  of  Egyptian  war-chariots  in  Wilkinson,  Ancient  Egyp- 
tians^,  i.  p.  222  ff . ;  Erman,  Aegypten,  u.  s.  w.,  p.  649  ff.,  720  f.;  W.  M.  Muller, 
Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  301  (Syrian),  329  (Hittite). 

t  See  further,  Lagarde,  Septuaginta  Studien,  i.  p.  20,  22. 

t  The  rendering  of  -13S  by  e/cArjpoi'o/u.Tja-ev  points  to  a  different  hand  from  the 
translator  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter  (cf.  v.l2. 13),  and  perhaps  justifies  the  inference 
that  v.18  (which  from  its  contents  cannot  have  been  inserted  by  the  editor  of 
Jud.  I)  was  interpolated  after  the  Greek  version  was  made. 

^  These  versions  could,  however,  scarcely  render  otherwise,  and  !L  and  CT,  at 
least,  probably  had  our  text ;  S  translates,  did  not  destroy. 

(]  Similarly  R.  Moses  es-Sheikh  supplies  ii'mnS  nxn  nS. 


I.  19-21  39 

sion;  in  usage  the  name  is  not  given  to  a  narrow  valley  or  ravine,  but  to  a 
broader  and  more  open  valley  or  low  plain,  such  as  the  Plain  of  Jezreel, 
Jos.  17!^  &c.  That  it  belongs  to  the  definition  of  an  'emeq  to  lie  between  or 
be  shut  in  by  hills  (Rob.,  Fhys.  Geog.y  70),  so  that  the  coast  plain  could  not 
be  so  called  (Ba.,  Graf,  on  Jer,  47"),  is  not  warranted.  See  further,  M. 
Shebiith,  ix.  2,  esp.  Tos.  Shebiith,  vii.  lo  f.  —  P'or  the  last  words  of  the  verse 
@  has  hri  'PrjxO'P  8ie<XTei\aTo  avrois,  prob.  by  corruption  of  Vr"i3(n)  to  Snon; 
cf.  Jos.  1716-18  where  'iinros  iwlXeKTos  may  have  a  similar  origin  (cf.  We.,  De 
gentibus,  etc.,  p.  31,  TBS.  p.  18). 

20.  Caleb  expels  the  giants  of  Hebron.  See  above  on  v.^^  — 
As  Moses  had  bidden\  Nu.  14^^  Dt.  i^''  cf.  Jos.  \^-^-  i^^^^-.—  The 
three  giants']  Sheshai,  Ahiman,  and  Talmai.  v.^°.  The  inhabitants 
of  Hebron  are  called  Canaanites  (v.^*^)  and  Amorites  (Jos.  10^  E),* 
—  both  general  names  for  the  native  population  of  Palestine. 
The  legends  of  the  conquest  made  Hebron  one  of  the  chief  seats 
of  a  giant  race,  the  remnants  of  the  autochthones  who  everywhere 
preceded  the  historical  peoples;!  Nu.  13^^  (J)  Jos.  15^^  14^^ 
11-^^-.  "Sons  of  Anak  "  (AV.,  RV.)  gives  the  erroneous  impres- 
sion that  Anak  is  the  name  of  the  father  of  these  giants,  —  an 
error  which  was  shared  by  early  Jewish  scribes  and  translators. 

pi^7\  "1J3]  is  a  phrase  like  h'<r\r\  >i2  *  warriors,'  and  signifies  *  men  of  great 
stature,'  lit.  *of  (long)  neck';  cf.  Jerome,  de  situ,  etc.  {OS'^.  11 27),  Enacim, 
quos  gigantes  et  potentes  intellegere  debemus;  Schultens,  /ob,  p.  383.  The 
article  categorically  prohibits  taking  pr;  as  a  proper  noun.  The  genealogy 
Arba  {i.e.  Four),  the  father  of  Anak  {Long-neck),  the  father  of  Sheshai,  &c. 
(Jos.  1513  2 1 11)  is  the  result  of  a  series  of  blunders;   see  on  v.i^. 

21.  Jerusalem.  —  See  above  on  v.^  and  cf.  Jos.  15^"^.  The  au- 
thor doubtless  wrote  Judah  (Jos.  15^),  which  was  changed  by  a 
later  hand  to  Benjat?iin  in  accordance  with  Jos.  18-*  cf.  v.^^  15^ 
The  probable  order  of  the  narrative  in  J  was  v.^'  ^^-  ^^,  or  v.^-  ^^-  ■'^.  \ 
Did  not  expel]  Jos.  15^,  could  not  expel ;  doubtless  the  original 
reading  of  J,  which  has  been  changed  as  in  v.^'',  for  similar  rea- 
son. §  —  The  Jebusites  dwelt  with  the  Be7ijamites'\  Jos.  15^  with  the 
Judahites. 


*  The  Hittites  at  Hebron,  Gen.  23  (P),  are  subject  of  controversy.  There  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  name  is  used  with  greater  ethnographical  exactness 
than  Canaanite  in  J  or  Amorite  in  E, 

t  See  Dt.  2IO-12.  20f.  23.  +  Mey.,  Bu..  Kitt.  §  Budde. 


40  JUDGES 

22-29.  Joseph  invades  Mt.  Ephraim  and  takes  Bethel.  Cities 
which  Manasseh  and  Ephraim  did  not  conquer.  —  The  oldest 
history  of  the  conquest  represented  the  invasion  of  Central  Pales- 
tine as  independent  of  that  of  the  south  and  subsequent  to  it,  a 
representation  which  also  underhes  the  narrative  in  Jos.  What  is 
here  related  of  Joseph  is  apparently  an  abridged  but  otherwise 
unaltered  extract  from  the  older  history  (J),  corresponding  to  the 
account  of  the  conquests  of  Judah.  —  The  house  of  Joseph  also  went 
up]  as  Judah  had  done ;  the  sentence  is  the  formal  counterpart  of 
v.^  Bouse  of  Joseph  v.^-^^  Jos.  if  (J)  2  S.  iq^^  i  K.  ii^^  Am.  5^, 
&c.  Here  it  tacitly  includes  Benjamin,  as  well  as  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh;  cf.  2.  S.  19-^  where  the  Benjamite  Shimei  says,  "  I  am 
come  to-day,  the  first  of  all  the  house  of  Joseph."  *  —  And  Yah- 
weh  was  with  them]  as  he  was  with  Judah  (v.^^).  Budde's  con- 
jecture, a7id  Joshtca  with  the?n,'\  is  extremely  ingenious,  but 
equally  hazardous ;  see  critical  note.  In  connexion  with  this 
conjecture  Budde  surmises  that  in  the  original  context  of  J  a 
short  account  of  the  operations  against  Ai  (Jos.  8)  preceded  v.^. 
—  23.  Reconnoitred  at  Bethel]  caused  an  examination  to  be 
made  in  order  to  find  out  the  best  way  to  surprise  or  attack  the 
town.  —  The  attcient  na??ie  of  B.  was  Luz]  Gen.  28^'''  35^  48^  Jos. 
18^^  (all  P  or  R).  In  Jos.  16^  the  two  seem  to  be  distinguished 
("from  Bethel  to  Luz"),  and  it  has  been  inferred  from  the  pas- 
sages in  Gen.  a'lso  that  the  Israelite  sanctuary.  Bethel,  was  at  a 
little  distance  from  the  old  Canaanite  city,  Luz ;  \  the  conclusion 
is,  however,  in  both  cases  precarious.  In  JE  (Gen.  28)  the  origin 
of  the  name  Bethel  is  connected  with  the  vision  which  Jacob  had 
there  in  his  flight  from  the  wrath  of  Esau,  and  the  sacred  stone 
(^atVvXos)  which  he  set  up  on  the  spot  (v.^^)  ;  in  P  (Gen.  35^^^) 
with  a  theophany  on  the  same  spot  as  he  returned  from  Paddan 
Aram.  In  the  times  of  the  kingdom  it  was  the  most  famous  holy 
place  in  Central  Palestine,  i  K.  12^^^-  13  2  K.  10-^  17-^  Am.  f^ 
3"  4''  5^  Hos.  10^  Jer.  48^^  &c.  It  is  the  modern  Beitin,  about 
twelve  miles  north  of  Jerusalem  on  the  way  to  Nabulus   (She- 

*  On  Benjamin,  see  Stade,  G  VI.  i.  p.  160  f. 
t  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  58  f. ;  accepted  by  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  1.  243, 
t  So  a  Lap.,  Gcs.  {T/ies.  p.  194),  Ew.  (GVI.  i.  435  f.),  Di.  on  Gen.  aSi^,  Gu6rin, 
al.  mu. 


I.  22-26  41 

chem).*  —  24.  The  men  on  the  watch'\  the  Israelite  scouts  or 
pickets;  cf.  i  S.  19^^  2  S.  ii^^  —  Show  us  the  way  to  enter  the 
city\  not  the  entrance  into  the  city^  /.<?.,  the  gate  (AV.,  RV.),  which 
they  could  see  for  themselves ;  but  the  most  advantageous  point 
for  an  assault  or  surprise. f  —  They  put  the  city  to  the  sword']  v.^ 
^15.16  jg27  Qgjj^  2^26  j  g^  j^8^  ^^      -p]^g  phrasc  is  used  constantly 

in  describing  the  wars  of  extermination  waged,  or  to  be  waged, 
against  the  Canaanites,  and  against  the  Amalekites ;  cf.  also  Jud. 
2037.48  21I0 1  s.  22i»  2  S.  i'5^*  2  K.  lo^.  %  —  Lct  the  Man  and  all  his 
family  go~\  cf.  Jos.  2^"^-  6^"*--''  (Rahab)  ;  family  is  to  be  understood 
in  the  larger  sense,  not  merely  of  his  household,  but  of  his  kin- 
dred. —  26.  The  man  migrated  to  the  north  beyond  the  Israelite 
settlements,  and  founded  a  new  Luz,  The  author  thus  accounts 
for  the  existence  in  his  time  of  a  town  bearing  that  name  in  Coele- 
Syria  or  the  Lebanon.  —  The  land  of  the  Nittites~\  is  tacitly  con- 
trasted with  the  land  of  Israel ;  §  see  further  on  3^.  Beyond  this 
we  have  no  clue  to  the  site  of  the  northern  Luz ;  the  appellative 
meaning  of  the  word  in  Arabic  {lauz  '  almond ')  makes  identi- 
fication with  any  of  the  numerous  modern  places  of  like-sounding 
name  more  than  usually  precarious. 

22.  J^Dr  n^3]  p^codd.  (^^a.  15  Kenn.  and  De  Rossi)  ©  (as  generally  in  Jos. 
and  Jud.)  ^Dv  '>}2  ol  viol  Icoarjcp,  which  Kitt.  adopts.  But  as  p|Dii  '<:2  is  in  the 
Octateuch  by  far  the  commoner  phrase,  the  variant  has  no  significance,  espe- 
cially after  the  plural  verb,  where  the  correction  of  the  constrtictio  ad  senswn 
(Gfis.25  §  145,  2;  Roorda,  §  595)  to  grammatical  concord  is  very  natural.  —  The 
name  Joseph  has  recently  been  recognized  in  the  name  Y-'^a-p-  a-rq,  i.e.,  Joseph- 
el,  II  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Syrian  conquests  of  Thothmes  III.  in  the  i6th  cent. 
B.C. ;  though  for  the  present  the  discovery  creates  new  and  perplexing  prob- 
lems rather  than  solves  any.  See  E.  Meyer,  ZATW.  vi.  p.  i  ff.;  Groff,  Rev. 
Agyptologique,  iv.  p,  95  ff,°;  Sayce,  Higher  Criticism,  &'c.,  p.  337-339;  most 
recently,  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  162  fF.,  who  regards  them  as 
names  of  places  (not  of  tribes)  in  Central  Palestine.  See  below  on  Asher, 
V.31,  p.  52.  —  any  ninii]   0^J^m,^  Euseb.,  koI  'louSas  /xer'  avrQiv.     Bu.  {Richt. 

*On  Beitin  see  Rob.,  BR^.  i.  p.  447  ff. ;  Gu6rin,  Judee,  iii.  p.  14-27;  SWP. 
Memoirs,  ii.  p,  295  f.,  305 ;  Bad^.,  p.  215. 

t  Vatabl.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  Stud.,  Ke.,  Ba.,  Kitt.;  less  probably,  a  secret  entrance, 
Abarb.,  Be.  %  On  the  usage  see  Be.,  on  18,  p.  15  f. 

\  Outside  of  Canaan,  Ki.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  al. 

II  Cf.  Y--k-b-a-ra,  i.e.  Jacob-el  in  the  same  list. 

II  The  secondary  versions  fail  us  ;  I  s  ft  are  lacking ;  c  omits  by  omoeoteleut. 
from  BaitJijX  v.22-Ban?r)A  V.23 ;  -^  is  supported  by  ©BNP. 


42  JUDGES 

u.  Sam.,  p.  58  f.)  conj.  that  the  author  wrote  ];y^n^^•,  as  Joshua  seemed  impos- 
sible in  this  context,  the  name  was  altered  to  min^  (®)>  but  this,  too,  conflicted 
with  the  foregoing  narrative  and  was  changed  to  nin\  But  instead  of  these 
clumsy  alterations  the  simple  and  only  natural  remedy  was  to  drop  the  words 
altogether.*  The  origin  of  the  variant  in  <3  is  much  more  probably  to  be 
explained  by  the  accidental  corruption  of  nin"*  to  min>  in  the  copy  from  which 
the  translation  was  made.  In  the  story  of  the  taking  of  Bethel  as  narrated  in 
y  23-2()  there  is  no  reference  to  a  leader  such  as  Joshua,  and  hardly  room  for 
such  a  one.  —  23.  In  Jos.  162  nn'?  is  perh.  merely  a  gloss  to  Sxr^o,  "from 
Bethel-Luz  "  (Di.  in  loc.')  ;  f  it  is  hardly  likely  that  in  defining  a  long  boundary 
by  four  or  five  points  two  places  would  be  named  which  are  so  near  to  each 
other  as  to  be  ordinarily  identified.  The  inference  from  Gen.  28^^  (Jacob 
did  not  pass  the  night  in  the  Canaanite  town)  is  only  really  cogent  upon  the 
assumption  of  the  strictly  historical  character  of  the  narrative.  In  the  partition 
of  the  land  Bethel  is  allotted  to  Benjamin  (Jos.  18^2  cf.  Neh.  ii^i),  but  the 
course  of  the  boundary  (Jos.  18^^  cf.  iG^*")  seems  to  leave  it  in  the  territory  of 
Ephraim;  see  comm.  on  Jos.  18.  The  Onomastica  (^OS'^.  20955  2309  8330 
lOOg)  locate  Bethel  on  the  left  of  the  Roman  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Neapolis 
(Shechem),  12  R.  m.  from  the  former;  so  also  the  Bordeaux  Pilgrim  (Reland, 
p.  416;  Palestine  Pilgrims'  Text  Soc,  p.  19).  Later  Christian  travellers 
looked  for  it  much  farther  north  (reff.  in  Rob.,  i,  p.  449  n.) ;  but  the  true  site 
was  still  pointed  out  to  Jewish  pilgrims  (Carmoly,  Itineraires,  p.  130,  249; 
Eshtori  Parchi,  fol.  68"  ed.  Venet.).  It  was  identified  with  Beittn  by  the 
missionary  Nicolayson  in  1836,  and  by  Rob.,  BPP-.  i.  447  ff.;  the  soundness  of 
the  identification  is  defended  (against  Thenius)  by  Graf  in  an  exhaustive 
discussion,  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1854,  p.  851-858.  —  n^n^i]  nin  (c.  c.  ace.)  'explore, 
reconnoitre,'  Nu.  13.  14,  passim.  The  Hiph.  is  better  taken  as  'direct  causa- 
tive '  (K6.  i.  p.  205  f.)  '  institute  an  exploration,  reconnaisance,'  rather  than 
'send  out  scouts'  (onn),  'have  scouts  reconnoitre'  (Ra.,  Ki.  after  C  Stud., 
R6.,  Ba.),  or  as  equivalent  to  Qal  (Tanch.,  R.  Jes.,  Schm.  (dub.),  MV.,  al.) ;  in 
the  former  case  ^;7  would  perhaps  be  expected  (Be.),  in  the  latter  the  ace. 
The  text  is  perhaps  at  fault;  @  irapev^^oKou  %  cum  obsiderent  suggest  '2  ljn">i 
9^'^;  Sta.  {SS.  s.v.)  proposes  mx»i,  which  would  be  construed  with  '?;■'  rather 
than  2.  (gIL  may,  however,  be  merely  attempts  at  the  sense;  the  former  led 
Fl.  Jos.  to  imagine  a  long  siege  of  Bethel  {antt.  v.  2,  6  §  130  f.).  — r\ov  no] 
oIkos  lapa-qK  ©avlo  ^IqI  la-parfK^-  75 :  (gBN  vacat.  The  subject  is  superfluous, 
and  the  variants  perhaps  indicate  that  it  is  not  original  in  '^.  —  24.  onDtrn] 
"ycv  in  a  hostile  sense,  *  have  a  place  in  observation,'  almost  equivalent  to 
•invest';  2  S.  Iii«  I  S.  19I1  Job  132^  Ps.  56"  71IO.  — nxv  1;.,^^-]  (gBN  ^^j  i^oi, 
i.vT}p  i^eiropevero  =  NXi  »'•>{<  njni,  Doom.  —  ij'»B';;i  .  .  .  iJN-\n]  construction  as  in 

•  All  the  more,  that  the  story  of  Ai,  to  which  they  are  supposed  to  have  formed 
the  introduction,  has  been  dropped. 

t  ©O  h  c  have  Aov^a  not  here  but  after  Baii>>}A  v.i,  but  this  may  be  accidental ;  ©N 
supports  IQ. 


■   I.  22-25,  27  43 

V.';  see  note  there.  —  25.  3"in  •'oV]  lit.  '  according  to  a  sword's  mouth,'  i.e.  as 
fiercely  as  a  sword  is  wont  to  devour,  unsparingly;  so  De.,  Di.  (on  Gen.  34''^'^), 
Ba.,  al.  Perhaps,  .however,  t\q  had  in  this  phrase  lost  its  literal  meaning, 
'  mouth,'  as  it  usually  does  in  "'dS,  so  that  it  only  conveyed  the  notion, '  accord- 
ing to,  in  the  manner  or  measure  of.'  The  prep,  should  not  be  taken  instru- 
mentally,  wilh  the  edge  of  the  sword,  which  would,  besides,  require  the  article; 
see  Giesebrecht,  Pr&posit.  Lamed,  p.  95,  98  f.  —  D^inn  ^'\'i(\  the  ambiguity  of 
Greek  transcription  sometimes  confuses  D>nn  Hittites  with  D\-i:)  Cyprians,  both 
of  which  may  be  represented  by  ^eTxiuii-y  *  cf.  Fl.  Jos.  antt.  i.  6,  i  §  128,  ix.  4, 
5  §  77.  Misled  by  this  confusion  Euseb.  (^OS'^.  30259)  writes,  Xerrtet/i  •  7^ 
^^TTL^Lfx  7)  KuTrpos,  %vda  ■Kb\i.v  €KTi(r€v  Aov^a;  f  cf.  Procop.  on  Jud.  1^  al. 
Some  modern  scholars  also  have  connected  D^nD  with  DTin;  so  Stud,  on 
Jud.  i26,  Ges.,  Jlfon.  Fhoen.,  p.  152  f.,  cf.  p.  122,  Thes.  p.  726;  Movers, 
Phonizier,  ii.  2.  p.  203  ff. ;  Fiirst,  WB^.  p.  453.  But  the  inscriptions  of 
Citium  which  Ges.  cited  in  support  of  this  identity  prove  to  have  been  mis- 
copied  or  misread;  see  E.  Meyer,  ZDMG.  xxxi.  p.  719  f.  —  In  the  Talmud 
{Sotah,  46*)  Luz  is  a  place  famous  for  its  blue  dyes  (cf.  also  Sanhedr.  12°), 
which  points,  perhaps,  to  a  site  not  very  remote  from  the  Phoen.  coast.  See 
Neubauer,  Geog.  du  Talmud,  p.  156.  —  Proposed  identifications  of  Luz  in 
our  verse  are  Luweizeh  (Rob.,  BK^.  iii.  p.  389),  four  or  five  miles  from  Tell 
el-Qidt  (Dan),t  and  Kamid  el  Lauz  (Rob.,  I.e.  p.  425)  §  on  the  western 
side  of  the  Bika  above  Hasbeiya,  once  a  place  of  considerable  importance 
(Abu-1  Fida,  Tab.  Syr.  ed.  Koehler,  p.  93;  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the 
Moslems,  p.  347,  cf.  p.  39). 

27.  Cf.  Jos.  17^^"^^.  As  on  the  south  Joseph  was  separated  from 
Judah  by  a  Une  of  Canaanite  towns,  ||  so  on  the  north  it  was  con- 
fined to  the  mountains  and  cut  off  from  the  fertile  plain  and  the 
tribes  which  struggled  for  a  foothold  beyond  it  in  GaHlee  by  a 
chain  of  fortified  cities  guarding  all  the  passes.  At  the  eastern 
end  of  this  cordon  was  Beth-shean,  on  the  main  road  to  Damas- 
cus ;  at  the  western  extremity,  Megiddo,  on  the  road  up  from  the 
coast,  commanding  thus  the  great  commercial  and  military  road 
between  Egypt  and  the  east.  —  Beth-shean~\  Jos.  1 7^^  a  stronghold 
of  the  Canaanites,  whose  iron  chariots  deterred  the  tribe  of  Joseph 
from  the  attempt  to  extend  their  border  in  that  direction.  It 
was  in  possession  of  the  Philistines  at  the  end  of  Saul's  Hfe  ( i  S. 


*  a\n3  =  X€TTiei/uL  Jer.  2I0  Ez.  27C ;  of.  Nu.  2424  (ffiM  i  Chr.  i7  ©L  i  Mace.  ii. 

t  But  cf.   OS-^.  27S.y;i. 

X  Conder  {SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  96)  lias  revived  this  suggestion. 

\  Perhaps  the  Kumidi  of  the  Amarna  tablets;  a  principality  of  S.  Phoenicia. 

II  See  above,  p.  8  ;    and  below  on  v.35. 


44  JUDGES 

31^°  2  S.  21^^),  having  perhaps  recently  been  wrested  by  them 
from  the  Canaanites ;  but  was  conquered  by  Israel,  probably 
under  David,  and  was  subject  to  Solomon  (i  K.  4^^;  see  also  on 
v.^^).  It  is  the  modern  Beisan,  situated  at  the  point  where  the 
narrow  eastern  extension  of  the  Great  Plain  begins  to  fall  off 
rapidly  to  the  Jordan  valley,  and  by  its  position  completely  com- 
manding this  pass.*  —  A  fid  its  dependencies\  lit.  *  daughters,  daugh- 
ter towns  ' ;  places  to  which  Beth-shean  Stood  in  the  relation  of  a 
/xT^rpoVoAts ;  t  Nu.  2^-'^  32^^  Jos.  15^^  Jer.  49^  Ez.  i6^  &c. — 
TaciJiacJi]  in  the  O.T.  generally  coupled  with  Megiddo  (5^^  i  K. 
4^^  Jos.  17^^  12^^)  ;  now  Ta'annuk  on  the  edge  of  the.  Great  Plain 
about  six  miles  NW.  of  Genin,  and  about  four  SE.  of  Leggun 
(Megiddo).  $  —  i^^r]  Jos.  ii^  12^3  17I1  i  K.  ^^  i  Chr.  7^^  cf.  Jud. 
i^^  (^ ;  on  the  sea  coast  south  of  Carmel,  nine  Roman  miles  N. 
of  Caesarea.  §  Its  ruins  lie  near  the  modern  village  of  Tantura.  || 
The  name  of  Dor  in  this  place  interrupts  the  orderly  progress  of 
the  enumeration  of  the  cities  along  the  margin  of  the  Great  Plain 
from  East  to  West ;  we  should  expect  it  to  stand  in  the  last  place 
as  it  does  in  i  Chr.  7^^,  which  appears  to  be  derived  from  Jud.  1% 
and  are  tempted  to  conjecture  that  it  has  been  accidentally  trans- 
posed.—//Vm;;/]  Jos.  if^  (not  in  iB)  i  Chr.  6^^  (Eng.  vers.  6"'^) 
cf.  (!l.  From  2  K.  (f^  it  appears  to  have  been  near  En-gannim, 
the  modern  Genln,  and  the  name  has  probably  survived  in  (Wady 
and  Bir)  Bel'ameh,  half  an  hour  S.  of  Genin.^  Others,  vWth  less 
probabiHty,  would  identify  Ibleam  with  Gelameh,  a  little  village  on 
a  knoll  three  miles  and  a  half  S.  by  W.  from  Zer 'In  (Jezreel)  on  the 
road  to  Genin.*"*  —  Megiddo']  see  the  passages  cited  above  under 
Taanach;   also  i  K.  9^^  2  K.  9^  23^^^-.     The  whole  plain  is  called 


*  Descriptions  of  the  site  in  Seetzen  (who  visited  it  in  1806),  Reisen,  ii.  p.  161  ff. ; 
Rob.,  BR^.  iii.  p.  326  ff. ;  Van  de  Velde,  Narrative,  ii.  p.  356  ff.;  Guerin,  Samarle, 
i.  p.  284-29S;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  83,  101-114  (with  plans). 

t  See  above  on  v. 10^  note. 

J  See  Schubert,  Reise,  iii.  p.  164;  Rob.,  BR^.  ii.  p.  316,  iii.  p.  117;  Gu6rin, 
Samarie,  ii.  p.  226  ff. ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  68. 

^  Aojpa  I  Mace.  15II;  Fi.  Jos.,  c.  Ap.,  ii.  10  ^  116;   OS'^.  2833. 

II  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  ii.  p.  305-315 ;  SWP.  Meinoirs,  ii.  p.  3,  7  ff. ;  Bdd^.,  p.  238. 

H  Ke.,  Di.  {NDJ.  p.  545)  ;   SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  47  f.,  51  f. ;   BildS.,  p.  228.     See 
also  Schultz,  y.MDG.  iii.  p.  49;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  339  ff. 
**  Knob.,  Cass.,  Grove,  Wilson  (Z>5i-2). 


I.  27-28  45 

from  it  the  Plain  of  Megiddo  (Zech.  12^^  2  Chr.  35^'),  as  the  Kishon 
is  called  the  River  of  Megiddo  (Jud.  5'^).  Megiddo  was  evidendy 
a  place  of  capital  strategic  importance,  and  is  named  in  both 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  inscriptions.  In  later  times  the  name  com- 
pletely disappears ;  neither  Josephus  nor  Eusebius  and  Jerome 
are  acquainted  with  it.  Robinson  *  established,  to  a  high  degree 
of  probability,  that  Megiddo  occupied  the  site  of  the  Legio  of 
the  Onomastica,  the  modern  Leggiin,  at  the  point  where  the  main 
road  from  the  coast,  having  crossed  the  range  of  hills  which  ex- 
tending to  the  SE.  connects  Carmel  with  Samaria,  emerges  into  the 
Great  Plain.  Its  position  must  always  have  made  it  the  key  to 
the  western  end  of  the  plain  as  Beth-shean  was  to  its  eastern  end.f 
—  The  Canaaiiites  resolved  to  re?nain  in  that  region~\  stubbornly 
maintained  their  hold  upon  it.  —  28.  When  Israel  became  strong 
enoiigJi^  the  subjugation  of  these  cities  appears  to  have  been  the 
work  of  David  ;  their  power  had  doubtless  been  greatly  weakened 
by  the  struggle  with  the  Philistines,  who,  at  the  beginning  of  Saul's 
reign,  or  shortly  after,  had  probably  conquered  the  rest  of  them 
as  we  know  they  did  Beth-shean.  Tliey  were  all  subject  to  Solo- 
mon, I  K.  4^^^-.  —  They  impressed  the  Canaanites  in  the  worki7ig 
gangs^^  employed  on  public  works  ( i  K.  9-*^) .  From  the  earliest 
times  to  the  days  of  the  Suez  canal,  the  corvee  has  been  in  the 
East  the  means  by  which  great  pubhc  works  have  been  executed. 
According  to  their  traditions,  the  Israelites  had  been  set  to  such 
labour  in  Egypt ;  Solomon  employed  it  on  a  large  scale  in  his  build- 
ings and  fortifications,  and,  in  spite  of  i  K.  9-^,  it  bore  heavily  not 
only  upon  ahens  but  on  Israelites  (i  K.  5^^^-  i2^-^"--^).  Megiddo 
and  Gezer  (v.-^)  were  fortified  by  him  by  impressed  labour,  doubt- 
less largely  of  their  own  Canaanite  inhabitants  ( i  K.  9^^) .  —  But 
by  no  means  expelled  them'\  the  population  of  these  cities  con- 
tinued to  be  largely  Canaanite ;  Beth-shean,  in  particular,  was, 
even  to  the  latest  times,  more  foreign  than  Israelite. 

27.    Beth-sheanl  Baidcrau,  tj  iariv  ZkvOQv  irdXis  ©,  2  Mace.  12^9  Judith  3^^^; 
l^iKvddiroXis,  Fl.  Jos.,  ajiU.  xii.  8,  5  §  348,  &c.;   Euseb.  OS^.  23755.     According 


*  BR^.  ii.  p.  328  ff.,  iii.  p.  116  ff. 

t  See  Van  de  Velde,  Narrative,  i.  p.  350  ff. ;   Guerin,  Samarie,  ii.  p.  232  ff. ; 
Bad^.  p.  229  f. 


46  JUDGES 

to  Georgius  Syncellus  {chronog.,  i.  p.  405  ed.  Bonn.)  ♦  it  had  this  name  from 
a  body  of  Scythians  who  were  left  behind  in  the  reflux  of  the  great  Scythian 
invasion  (Hdt.,  i.  105  f.);  cf.  Aug.,  qii.  8.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this  is 
merely  a  learned  combination.  Other  ancient  references  to  the  place,  see 
Reland,  Palaestina,  p.  992  ff.;  Schurer,  Gesch.  d.  jud.  Volkes^  u.  s.  w.,  ii. 
p.  97  ff.;  Jewish  authors,  Neubauer,  Geog.  du  Talmud,  p.  174  f.,  Zunz  in 
Asher's  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  ii.  p.  425,  cf.  p.  400  f. ;  Arab  geographers,  Le 
Strange,  Palestine  tmder  the  Moslems,  p.  410  f.  The  name  is  not  to  be  read 
in  the  Egyptian  inscriptions  as  many  have  done;  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa^ 
p.  193. —  Taanach'\  is  found  in  the  lists  of  Palestinian  cities  subdued  by 
Thothmes  III.  (i6th  cent.  B.C.)  and  Shishak  (loth  cent.),  in  the  former  in 
immediate  juxtaposition  to  Ibleam;  see  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa, 
p.  170,  195.  Euseb.  {OS'^.  26242)  locates  it  3  R.  m.  from  Legio;  Eshtori 
Parchi  (fol.  67*  ed.  Venet.)  found  it,  with  unchanged  name,  i  hr.  S.  of 
Megiddo  (Leggun).  —  Dor']  Reland,  p.  738  ff.  (where,  with  other  ancient 
notices,  an  extract  from  the  larger  work  of  Steph.  Byz.);  Schiirer,  GjV.n. 
p.  77-79.  According  to  the  Papyrus  Golinischeff,  the  maritime  town  D-ira 
(Dor)  was,  in  the  time  of  Hri-hor  (before  1050  B.C.),  in  the  hands  of  the 
Takara,  one  of  the  tribes  which  invaded  Canaan  with  the  Purusati  (Philis- 
tines); see  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa^  p.  388.  The  irregular  order 
of  the  present  enumeration,  which  springs  to  and  fro  —  Taanach,  Dor,  Ib- 
leam, Megiddo  —  may  have  given  rise  to  the  conj.  En-dor,  which  in  Jos. 
17^^  1^  stands  as  a  doublet  to  Dor  and  in  S»  has  displaced  it;  but  En-dor  does 
not  belong  in  this  company  at  all.  The  name  is  properly  written  not  "in,t 
as  here,  but  int  Jos.  \f-^  i  K.  4II,  ini  p;?  Ps.  83II,  -ini  nnn  Jos.  2i32;  see 
Massora  on  Jos.  17II  and  Norzi.  That  this  is  the  original  form  of  the  name 
appears  from  the  Assyrian  text  cited  by  Schrader,  KAT^.  p.  168,  and  is  put 
beyond  question  by  the  inscription  of  Eshmunazar  {CIS.,  Pars  i.,  i.  no.  3, 
1.  19).  —  Ibleam~\  in  2  K.  9^^  we  should  not  translate  to  the  garden  house 
(EF.),  but  to  Beth-haggan  (Sta.,  Klo.),  i.e.  En-gannim  Jos.  1921  Tiva-fi  Fl.  Jos. 
antt.  XX.  6,  i  §  118,  on  the  edge  of  the  Great  Plain,  the  border  town  between 
Samaria  and  Galilee  (&.  j.  iii.  3,  4),  now  Genin  (Rob.,  PP^.  ii.  p.  315  f.; 
Guerin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  327-332;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  44).  "The  pass  (as- 
cent) of  Gur,  which  is  near  Ibleam,"  must  have  been  in  the  edge  of  the  hills. 
The  situation  of  Bel'ameh  suits  all  these  indications.  J  Gelameh  (Rob.,  BP^. 
ii.  p.  319;  Guerin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  326  f.;  SWP.  Mernoirs,  ii.  p.  84),  in  the 
open  plain  an  hour  N.  of  Genin,  suits  neither  in  name  nor  in  situation;  it  can 
never  have  been  a  place  of  great  strength,  and  there  is  no  pass  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. Eshtori  Parchi  (fol.  67^)  and  Conder  (SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  98) 
identify  Ibleam  with  Yebla,  NW.  of  Beisan.  —  Megiddo]  Egyptian  references, 

*  Cf.  Pliny,  n.  h.,  v.  74,  Scythopolim.antea  Nysam,  a  Libero  Patre  sepulta  nutrice 
ibi  Scythis  reductis. 

t  Numerous  codd.  (De  Rossi)  have  iNl. 

X  Bel'ameh  may  also  be  the  iitAa/xu>»'  of  Judith,  S3  (BeAMe"  4^  yScodd.^  %  Belma). 


I.  27-29  47 

Miiller,  op.  cit.  p.  195  f.;  Amarna  tablets,  Sayce,  Acad.  Feb.  7,  1891,  p.  138; 
Assyrian,  Schrader,  KAT'^.  p.  168  =  COT.  i.  p.  156.  The  identification  with 
Leggun  is  due  to  Eshtori  Parchi  (1322;.  fol.  67^,  Zunz,  in  Asher's  Benj.  of 
Tudeluy  ii.  p.  433) ;  in  modern  times  it  seems  to  have  been  first  suggested 
in  an  anonymous  review  of  Raumer's  Palaestina  in  the  Munch,  gelehrt. 
Anzeigen,  Dec.  1836,  p.  920  (Rob.).  Legio  {Xe-yewv)  isfreq.  mentioned  in  the 
Onomastica;  as  the  intersection  of  several  roads  it  is  used  as  the  base  from 
which  the  distance  of  a  number  of  places  is  reckoned;  under  the  name 
Leggiin  it  is  often  named  in  the  Arab  geographers  (Le  Strange,  Palestine,  ^'c, 
p.  492  f.).  Tell  el-Mutesellim  (Thomson,  Land  and  Book-,  ii.  p.  214;  Gue- 
rin,  Samarie,  ii.  p.  237)  may  have  been  the  citadel  of  Megiddo,  as  Tell 
el-Hi?n  w^as  of  Beth-shean.  Conder  {PEF.  Statements,  1877,  P-  ^3  ff-> 
of.  190-192;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  90  fF.)  would  put  Megiddo  at  Khurbet 
el-Mugedda',  in  the  valley  3  m.  SW.  of  Beth-shean;  the  situation  is  impos- 
sible. Others  (so  Spruner-Sieglin,  Atlas')  identify  it  with  el-Mugeidil,  an 
hour  and  a  quarter  SW.  of  Nazareth.  —  '^nin  n*?!]  Jos.  1712  jrmnS  . .  .hy^  N^i; 
see  above,  on  \P.  —  'X\  '•jyjDn  Sxvi]  not  began  (6*31  as  usually),  nor  consented, 
agreed  (Ba.,  Cass.,  after  older  scholars).  The  verb  means  'make  up  one's 
mind,  resolve,  decide,'  either  of  one's  own  motion.  Gen.  18'-^'^  Dt.  i^  i  S.  12^2 
&c.,  or  at  the  instance  or  request  of  another,  Jud.  19^  17^1  2  K.  6^  and  often. 
But  w^e  are  not  warranted  in  putting  so  much  into  it  as,  '  they  had  to  submit 
to  reside  in  that  (limited)  region  on  conditions  fixed  by  the  Israelites,'  of 
which  villeinage  (v.^^)  ^v^ag  the  ultimate,  if  not  the  immediate,  import  (Ba.) ; 
cf.  Ex.  2^1  Jud.  17II,  further  v.35  cl.  Jos.  19^'^.  —  28.  ddS  •'j;;jDn  nx  Da>ii]  Jos.  171^ 
ijnii.  The  etymology  of  Da  is  obscure;  possibly  it  is  a  loan-word.  It  is  a 
body  of  men  impressed  to  labour  on  public  works,  frequently  defined  "^^i?  DD, 
working  gang.  Ex.  i^^  the  Egyptians  set  over  the  Israelites  d^dd  n'^:',  i.e.,  not 
iirco-TaTaL  tCjv  epycjv  ((&%),  but  gang-foremen.  The  word  can  be  used  of  a 
whole  population  which  is  subject  to  the  corvee;  fig.  (Prov.  12^4 1)  of  an 
individual  who  is  induced  to  this  status.  It  nowhere  in  the  O.T.  has  the 
meaning  *  tribute,  tributary,'  which  the  exegetical  tradition  attaches  to  it.  A 
distinction  between  Do  and  nnj?  Do,  such  as  Ba.  tries  to  establish,  does  not 
exist.  —  itfnin  nS  cnini]  did  not  drive  them  out  at  all.  The  absol.  object., 
Ges.25  §  113,  3  a;  Ew.  §  312  a.  —  For  a  comparison  of  the  parallel  passage, 
Jos.  17II-13,  and  discussion  of  its  relation  to  Jud.,  see  Be.,  p.  37  f.;  Di.,  NDJ. 
p.  544  fF.;  esp.  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  13  ff.;   Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  1.  p.  244. 

29.  Jos.  i6^^  Ephraim  did  not  conquer  Gezer,  which  formed 
a  Canaanite  enclave  in  the  territory  of  that  tribe. —  Gezer]  on  the 
SW.  border  of  Ephraim  (Jos.  16^).  In  David's  time  still  indepen- 
dent (i  S.  27^  2  S.  5^  I  Chr.  20*),"*  it  was  conquered  in  the  following 

♦  In  Jos.  132  also  we  should  probably  read  '^'s^iry  for  niB'jn ;  We.,  TBS.  p.  139 ; 
Dr.,  TBS.,  p.  163;  Mey.,  ZATW.  i.  p.  126  n.;  cf.  also  Ew.,  GVJ.  ii.  467.  On  the 
other  side,  Di.,  ad  loc. 


48  JUDGES 

reign  by  the  Pharaoh  and  given  to  his  daughter,  Solomon's  queen  ; 
Solomon  rebuilt  it  as  a  frontier  fortress  against  the  PhiHstines 
(i  K.  9^^'^0-  I^  ^s  ^^^  modern  Tell  Gezer,  discovered  in  1870  by 
Clermont  Ganneau,  between  'Amwas-Nicopolis  and  'Aqir-Ekron. 
—  The  Canaanites  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  them  at  Gezer']  Jos. 
j^iob.^  "The  C.  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  Ephraim  unto  this  day, 
and  were  subjected  to  compulsory  labour,"  which  is  not  a  free  ex- 
pansion of  Jud.,*  but  represents  the  original  reading  of  J  (cf. 
^28.30.33.35^  .  ^^q  ^g^t  In  Jud.  has  been  abbreviated. t  The  words 
"unto  this  day"  do  not  necessarily  imply  a  time  prior  to  the 
destruction  of  the  city  by  the  Egyptians  (i  K.  9^^)  ;  |  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  Canaanite  population  need  not  be  taken  so  literally. 

Gezer^  is  named  in  the  lists  of  Thothmes  III.  (Miiller,  Asien  ti.  Etiropa, 
p.  160),  and  in  Amarna  tablets  (Sayce,  Acad.,  Feb.  1891,  p.  138).  According 
to  I  K.  9I6  (cf.  I  S.  27S;  2  S.  5^5  is  indecisive,  I  Chr.  20*  can  hardly  prove  the 
contrary)  it  was  in  Solomon's  time  a  Canaanite  (not  Philistine)  city,  though  it 
may  earlier  have  been  subject  to  the  Philistines.  Gezer  (Fd^apa,  Fd^T/pa)  was 
an  important  place  in  the  Maccabaean  wars;  i  Mace.  4^^  7*^  9^2  (Fl.  Jos., 
antt.  xiii.  I,  3  §  15)  13^^  14^^  (Fl.  Jos.,  b.  j.  i.  2,  2)  1528.35  ^\^  j^g^^  ^j^/^^  ^iii. 
9,  2  §  261).  Euseb.  (6)6"2.  24414)  puts  it  4  R.  m.  N.  of  Nicopolis.  The  Arab 
geographers  mention  Tell  Gezer  as  a  fortress  in  the  Province  Filastin  (Le 
Strange,  Palest,  under  the  Moslems,  p.  543).  For  Ganneau's  discovery  of  the 
place,  see  PEF.  Statemejtts,  1873,  p.  78  f.;  1874,  p.  276  ff.;  1875,  p.  74  ff. 
A  boundary  stone  was  found  with  the  inscription  nrj  nnn;  Acad,  des  Inscript., 
Co7nptes  rendus,  1874,  p.  106  ff.,  201,  213  f.,  273  ff.;  see  also  SIVP.  Memoirs^ 
ii.  428-439  (with  plan). 

30-33.  The  northern  tribes  settle  among  the  older  population ; 
the  principal  cities  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  Canaanites. — 

The  entrance  of  these  tribes  into  western  Palestine  was  indepen- 
dent of  the  invasion  of  Judah  (v.^^)  and  Joseph  (v."^),  and  if 
the  author's  representation  —  which  also  underhes  Jos.  1 8^^-  —  be 
correct,  later  in  time.  Its  results  were  also  much  less  considera- 
ble ;  even  in  the  mountains  of  Galilee  they  did  not  gain  the  mas- 
tery as  their  brethren  had  done  in  the  mountains  of  Ephraim  and 
Judah.  The  newcomers  were  fain  to  settle  among  the  Canaan- 
ites where  they  could  find  place ;  the  mass  of  the  population  in 

*  Be.,  of.  Ew.,  G  VI.  ii.  p.  464. 

t  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  15;  Kitt,,  GdH.  i.  i.  p.  244. 

+  Bleek,  EinlK  p.  151  f.,  Ba.,  al. 


I.  29-31  49 

this  "heathen  distwct "   (Gahlee  of  the  Gentiles)   was  probably 
for  many  centuries  not  Israehte. 

The  tribes  of  Zebulun,  Asher,  and  Naphtali  are  named.  The 
omission  of  Issachar  is  not  easily  accounted  for,  since  the  Song  of 
Deborah  (ch.  5)  shows  that  in  early  times  it  was  a  prominent 
tribe  and  had  much  to  suffer  from  the  Canaanites  (cf.  also  Gen. 
49^^^).  It  is  hardly  likely  that  it  is  included  under  Joseph,*  more 
probably  it  has  been  omitted,  through  accident  or  design,  in  the 
abridgment  of  the  chapter. 

30.  Zebidun'\  settled  in  the  western  part  of  Lower  Galilee,  in 
the  hills  north  of  the  Great  Plain;  see  Jos.  19^°"^*'.  —  Kitron  and 
Nahalol~\  Nahalol  appears  among  the  cities  of  Zebulon,  Jos.  19^^ 
21^;  Kitron  only  here.  Neither  has  been  identified. — Were 
subjected  to  compulsory  labour'\  see  on  v.-^  and  note  on  v.^^. — 
31.  Ashe7'\  north  of  Zebulun  and  west  of  Naphtali,  in  the  moun- 
tainous country  behind  the  Phoenician  coast.  — Acco'\  only  here 
in  the  Hebrew  Old  Testament.f  It  was  renamed  Ptolemais 
(Act.  21^),  probably  in  honour  of  Ptolemy  II.,  but  the  new  name 
did  not  supplant  the  old  one.  It  is  the  St.  Jean  d'Acre  of  the 
crusaders  the  modern  'Akka,  on  the  coast  north  of  the  headland 
of  Carmel.  %  —  Sidon']  the  famous  Phoenician  city,  the  modern 
Saida.  § 

Ahlaby  Achzib,  Helbah,  Aphik,  Rehob']  of  these  places  only 
Achzib  can  be  identified  with  any  confidence.  It  is  the  Ecdippa 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  geographers,  on  the  coast  nine  Roman 
miles  north  of  Ptolemais,  ||  the  modern  ez-Zib,  between  'Akka  and 
Tyre.^     Of  the  others,  a  highly  probable  emendation  of  Jos.  19^ 

*  We.,  Comp.,  p.  215;  cf.  Mey.,  ZATW.  i.  p.  142  f. ;  against  this  view,  Bu., 
Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  44  ff. 

t  \y)  is  to  be  restored  (for  iDy)  in  Jos.  19^0  with  ffiN  cf.  M  (Reland,  Hollenb.), 
and  according  to  a  widely  accepted  conj,  of  Reland,  in  Mi.  ii"  (for  13:2)  ;  see  Ryssel, 
Micha,  p.  23  ff. 

X  On  Acco  see  Fl.  Jos.,  b.  j.  ii.  10,  i  f. ;  Reland,  p.  534  flf. ;  Rob.,  DR^.  iii.  p. 
89  fF.;  Guerin,  Galilee,  i.  p.  502-525;  Lortet,  Syrie,  p.  159-168;  SWP.  Memoirs, 
i.  p.  160  ff.;  Schiirer,  GjV.  ii.  p.  79  ff. ;  Neubauer,  Giog.  du  Talmud,  p.  231  f . ; 
Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  p.  328-334. 

\  On  Sidon,  Reland,  p.  loio  ff. ;  Pietschmann,  Phonizier,  p.  53  flf.;  Rob,,  BR\ 
ii.  p.  476-485;  Ritter2,  xvii.  p.  380  ff.;  Renan,  Mission  de  Phenicie,  p.  361  ff. ;  Gue- 
rin, Galilee,  ii.  p.  485-506;  Lortet,  Syrie,  p.  91-116;  Bad^.  p.  279-283. 

II  Jerome,  OS'^.  9512.  H  Ritter,  xvi.  p,  811  f. ;  Gu6rin,  Galilee,  ii.  164  f. 

E 


50  JUDGES 

would  restore  Ahlab,  or  Helbah,  which  is  perhaps  a  variant  of  the 
same  name,  before  Achzib ;  it  was  probably  on  the  coast  between 
Achzib  and  Sarepta.  Aphik  and  Rehob  are  found  together  in  the 
catalogue  of  cities  of  Asher,  Jos.  19"^*^;  they  were  apparently  fur- 
ther inland.  —  32.  The  Ashe  rites  settled  among  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land~\  the  words  clearly  express  the  difference  between  the 
situation  in  this  part  of  the  land  and  that  south  of  the  Great 
Plain.  In  the  latter  region  the  conquest  was  incomplete,  but 
the  Israelites  were,  at  least  in  the  mountains,  the  predominant  ele- 
ment in  the  population ;  in  the  north  there  was  no  conquest  at  all, 
and  Asher  and  Naphtali  settled  among  the  native  inhabitants  as 
best  they  could.  —  For  they  did  not  drive  them  out]  we  may  with 
confidence  assume  that  the  author  of  the  older  history  wrote,  as 
elsewhere,  could  not,  —  33.  Naphtali]  settled  in  the  eastern  half- 
of  Upper  Galilee,  having  Zebulon  and  Issachar  on  the  south  and 
Asher  on  the  west.  —  Beth-shemesh]  Jos.  19^;  not  identified. — 
Beth-anath]  coupled  with  Beth-shemesh  (Jos.  /.  c.)  in  the  list 
of  fortified  cities  in  Naphtali,  is  perhaps  the  modern  village 
'Ainitha,  six  miles  WNW.  from  Qades  (Kedesh  of  Naphtali).* 
The  name  shows  that  it  was  an  old  seat  of  the  worship  of  the 
goddess  Anath,t  as  Beth-shemesh  of  the  worship  of  the  Sun.  — 
They  settled^  6^<;.]  see  above  on  v.^l  —  Became  subject  to  impress- 
ment] Y?^ ;  see  on  v.^-  ^.  —  Beth-shemesh  and  Beth-anath  were 
not  the  only  cities  in  Naphtali  which  maintained  their  indepen- 
dence ;  in  4^^-  a  Canaanite  king  of  Hazor  has  subjugated  all  the 
northern  tribes.  From  the  predominance  of  the  alien  element  in 
this  region  it  was  called  the  Foreign  District  {Gelil  ha-goftm, 
Galilee  of  the  Gentiles,  Is.  8"^^  =  AV.  9^),  or  shortly,  the  District 
{Gelil,  Galilee;  i  K.  9^^  2  K.  15^).  It  was  subject  to  Solomon, 
who  fortified  Hazor  (i  K.  9^^),  and  ceded  twenty  towns  in  it  (the 
Cabul)  to  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre  (i  K.  9"-i3). 

30.  We  may  safely  disregard  the  combinations  VSnj  =  SiVnn  {Jer.  Megillah, 
i.  i)=  Ma'lul,  i\  ni-  W.  of  Nazareth  (Schwarz),  or  'Ain  Mahil  (Conder);  as 
well  as  the   identification  —  by  an  etymological    Midrash  —  of  Kitron  with 

*  So  Van  de  Velde,  Narrative,  i.  p.  170 ;  Gu6rin,  Galilee,  ii.  p.  374 ;  Miihlau, 
in  Ri.  HWB.  ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  200. 

t  Cf.  Beth-anoth  in  Judah,  Anathoth  in  Benjamin ;  E.  Meyer.  ZDMG.  xxxi. 
(1877)  p.  718.     See  below  on  38I. 


T-  32-33  51 

Sepphoris  {Meg.  6«).  The  tradition  of  the  names  is  not  such  as  to  inspire 
unqualified  confidence.  In  Jos.  ig^^  we  find  SSnji  nop  (©^  KaravaO),  in 
21^*  nnnp  is  prob.  another  variant  of  the  same  name;  Jer.  Meg.  i.  i  identifies 
ntap  with  n^irop  (see  Neubauer,  Geog.  du  Talm.,  p.  189).  —  For  SSnj  here  ©^^ 
has  Aoj/iara,  i.e.  njm  Jos.  2i35.  —  p'?nr]  see  Frensdorff,  J/aj-j,  W'orterb.,  p.  281  f. 

—  31.  :i'?nN]  The  same  place  is  no  doubt  meant  in  Jos.  192^,  where  the  emenda- 
tion navDN*  a'?nD  (?  aSnNi:,  na^nc)  for  the  unintelligible  'n  "^iryn  (Stud.,  Hollenb.; 
cf.  ©^  a-wh  AejS,^*  d7r6  AXe)3)  seems  imperative.  The  order  of  enumeration 
(restoring  ijy  v.^'^)  is  from  N.  to  S.  An  inscription  of  Sennacherib,*  which 
recites  his  successes  in  Phoenicia,  names  in  order,  Sidon,  Bit-Zi-it-ti  (nn  no), 
Sarepta,  Mahalliba,  Usu-u,\  Achzib,  Acco.  Fr.  Delitzsch  {Paradies,  p.  283  f.) 
and  Schrader  {KAT'^.  p.  173)  compared  Mahalliba  with  Ahlab,  Helbah,  and 
W.  M.  Miiller  {Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  194,  n.)  conj.  that  ^Vnn  was  the  original 
name  in  the  O.T.  also.  This  does  not  commend  itself;  but  it  is  altogether 
probable  that  Ahlab,  Helbah,  and  Mahalliba  are  variations  of  the  sarrle  name,  J 
the  meaning  remaining  the  same.  If  this  be  so,  we  may  venture  to  conjecture 
that  it  was  the  old  name  of  the  Promontoriiim  album  of  Pliny,  the  modern 
Ras  el-Abyad,  midway  between  Tyre  and  Achzib;  cf.  Plin.,  n.  h.,  v.  75,  Ptole- 
mais,  quae  quondam  Acce  .  .  .  Ecdippa,  promunturium  Album,  Tyros.  —  Many 
identify  Ahlab  with  the  Gush  Halab  of  the  Talmuds,  the  PtcrxaXa  of  Josephus 
{b.  j.,  ii.  20,  6;  iv.  2,  i  ff.;  vii.,  10,  &c.),  now  el-Gish,  NW.  of  Safed;  but  this, 
although  in  the  Talmud  ascribed  to  Asher  {Menachoth,  85b,  cf.  Sifre,  Dt.  §  355, 
fol.  148*  ed.  Friedm.),  is  much  too  far  inland  for  our  context,  and,  indeed,  for 
the  boundaries  of  Asher.  §  Still  more  remote  is  a^n  (Aleppo),  or  n^Vn,  prob. 
Hisn  Halba  (Le  Strange,  p.  352)  in  the  district  of  Tripoli  (Eshtori  Parchi, 
fol.  6o«  ed.  Venet.,  Asher,  BeitJ.  of  Tudela,  ii.  415).  —  nno.x]  in  the  Talmud 
31TD,  N.  of  Acco;  Tos.  Ohaloth,  xviii.  13,  and  often  (Neubauer,  p.  231-233); 
'E/c5t7r7ra,  Ptol.,  v.  15,  5;  cf.  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  I,  22  §  85,  b.  j.  i.  13,  4;  Ecdippa, 
Plin.,  n.h.,\.  75.    The  identification  with  ez-Zib  is  as  old  as  Maundrell  (1697). 

—  p"»i3N]  not''A0a/ca  in  the  Lebanon,  N.  of  Beirut,  at  the  sources  of  the  Adonis 
(Nahr  Ibrahim),  famous  for  its  worship  of  the  Syrian  Aphrodite,  the  modern 
Afqa  (older  scholars  in  Reland,  p.  572,  Ges.  7'hes.,  Rosenm.,  v.  Raum.,  Ba., 
Ke.,  Cass.,  al.),  which  is  much  too  far  north  for  the  present  context  and  that 
of  Jos.  19^''.  |[     The  name  is  not  uncommon.  —  3ni]  also  a  common  name. 

*  Taylor  Cylinder,  col.  ii.  I.  38-40;  Schrader.  KAT^.  p.  288. 

t  Query  =  nDn  Jos.  ig^^  ?  The  name  'osti  also  in  Egyptian  inscriptions,  Miiller, 
Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  194.  \  Cf.  Ahmed  and  Mohammed. 

\  On  Gush  Halab  see  Neubauer,  Gcog.  du  Talmud,  p.  230  f. ;  el-Gish,  Rob.,  BR^. 
ii.  p.  445  f. ;  Guerin,  Galilee,  ii.  p.  94-100 ;  ^S  WP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  198,  224-226.  It  is 
freq.  mentioned  by  Arab.  Geographers  (Le  Strange,  p.  463).  Eshtori  Parchi  ob- 
serves that  Gush  Halab  is  almost  a  day's  journey  from  Acco ;  he  can  explain  its 
belonging  to  Asher  only  by  the  fact  that  the  boundaries  of  the  tribes  overlapped 
(fol.  67"). 

II  Aphaka  in  the  Lebanon  is  probably  intended  in  Jos.  13^ ;  see  J.  D.  Mich., 
Suppl.,  p.  114;  cf.  Budde,  Urgesckichte,  p.  350. 


52  JUDGES 

The  Rehob  of  our  text  (and  Jos.  iq^'^)  cannot  be  the  same  as  Beth-rehob  near 
Dan  (Jud  i8^^).  It  is  very  likely  Rehob  in  Asher  that  is  meant  in  the  Egyptian 
lists  cited  by  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa^  p.  153;  see  his  note  there.  It  seems 
probable  from  the  order  in  Jos.  ip^^-^o^  and  from  the  fact  that  in  other  cata- 
logues of  the  towns  on  the  Phoenician  seaboard  the  names  nowhere  occur, 
that  Aphik  and  Rehob  were  not  on  the  coast,  but  in  the  interior.  The  omis- 
sion of  Tyre  from  this  list  is  significant.  —  The  name  Asher  appears  in  the 
Egyptian  inscriptions  of  Seti  and  Ramses  II.*  among  the  peoples  with  whom 
those  kings  waged  war  in  northwestern  Palestine,  in  the  same  region  where 
the  Israelite  tribe  Asher  is  located  by  the  O.T.;  see  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u. 
Etiropa,  p.  236  ff.f  Like  the  names  Joseph-el  and  Jacob-el  (above,  p.  41), 
this  fact  opens  large  questions  about  the  settlement  of  the  Israelites  in  Pales- 
tine, upon  which  we  cannot  enter  here.  —  njy  no]  occurs  amon^  the  conquests 
of  Seti  and  Ramses  II.  (Miiller,  op.  cit.,  p.  195,  220),  with  divine  determina- 
tive, as  was  observed  by  De  Rouge  in  1852  {^Mem.  de  VAcad.  des  Inscr.,  xx.  2, 
i86i,p.  181).  There  is  another  Ainata  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Lebanon 
not  far  from  theBisherreh  cedars  (Jixxxion,  Unexplored  Syria,  ii.  138  f.;  Thom- 
son, Land  and  Book-,  Lebanon,  &c.,  p.  272,  313;  Bad^.  p.  350).  For  other 
attempts  to  identify  Beth-anath,  in  accordance  with  the  indications  of  Euseb., 
OS'^,  23645  cl.  22470,  see  Ba. 

34,  35.  Dan  is  forced  back  into  the  mountains.  —  The  verses 
differ  strikingly  from  the  rest  of  the  chapter  in  the  use  of  the 
name  Amorite  instead  of  Canaanite.  In  the  Hexateuch  the 
former  is  characteristic  of  E  (and  D),  the  latter  of  J.  $  Verse  ^, 
which  shares  this  peculiarity,  is  clearly  fragmentary  and  mis- 
placed. For  these  reasons,  which  he  fortifies  by  other  peculiari- 
ties of  expression  in  the  verse,  Meyer  separates  v.^'^  as  the  work 
of  another  hand.  §  Budde  has  shown,  however,  ||  that,  whatever 
explanation  we  may  give  of  the  substitution  of  Amorites  for  Ca- 
naanites,  v.^-  are  probably  derived  from  the  same  source  and 
context  as  the  rest  of  the  chapter.  —  Dan]  first  tried  to  get  a 
foothold  on  the  southwest  of  Ephraim.  The  language  of  the  text 
perhaps  implies  that  in  the  beginning  they  pushed  further  toward 
the  Lowlands,  but  were  soon  checked  and  pressed  back  by  the 


*  Before  the  date  now  generally  accepted  for  the  Exodus,  therefore. 

t  M.  Jastrow,  Jr.,  in  JBL.  xi.  p.  120,  points  out  that  the  Habiri  and  Milkil 
{mare  Milkil)  of  the  Amarna  tablets  correspond  to  two  of  the  clans  of  Asher, 
Heber  and  Malchiel  (Nu.  2645). 

X  We.,  Camp.,  p.  341 ;  Mey.,  7. A  TW.  i.  p.  121  ff. ;  Bu.,  Urgeschichte,  p.  345  f. 

\  ZA  TW.  i.  p.  126,  135 ;  so  also  Stade,  G  VI.  i.  p.  138  n. 

II  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  15  ff, ;  see  also  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  i.  p.  244,  and  note  below. 


I-  34-35  53 

natives,  who  crowded  them  into  a  small  district  about  Zorah  and 
Eshtaol,  where  we  find  them  in  Jud.  13-16.  The  main  body  of 
the  tribe,  finding  these  limits  too  narrow,  migrated  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Jordan,  where  they  established  themselves  about 
Laish,  renamed  Dan  (Jud.  18  f.  Jos.  19*'*). — The  Amorites\  in  E 
and  D  comprehensive  name  for  the  pre-Israelite  peoples  of  Pales- 
tine. The  author  (J)  from  whom  this  notice  is  derived  probably 
wrote  Canaanites,'^  as  throughout  the  chapter.  —  The  contrast 
between  the  mountains  and  the  plain,  as  in  v.^^  cf.  also  Jos.  i  ^j^^'. 
The  broad  valleys  which  extend  inland,  like  that  of  Aijalon  (Jos. 
10^^)  t  are  doubtless  included,  but  not  exclusively  meant.  —  35. 
Cf.  v.^''  —  Har-heres\  only  here.  Generally,  and  with  great  proba- 
biHty,  regarded  as  the  same  with  Beth-shemesh  (i  K.  4^  2  Chr. 
28^^),  t  or  Ir-Shemesh  (Jos.  ip''^),  which  stand  in  immediate  con- 
nexion with  Aijalon  and  Shaalbim,  and  then  to  be  identified  with 
the  modern  'Ain  Shems,  on  the  south  side  of  Wady  Surar,  opposite 
Surah  (Zorah).  § — Aijaloii]  Jos.  19'^  10^^,  on  the  Philistine  border 
(i  S.  14^^)  ;  subject  to  Solomon  (i  K.  4^)  ;  fortified  by  Rehoboam 
(2  Chr.  ii^°)  ;  according  to  the  same  authority,  conquered  by 
the  Philistines  under  Ahaz  (2  Chr.  28^^).  Conclusively  identified 
by  Robinson  with  the  modern  Yalo,  ||  about  two  miles  E.  of 
'Amwas  (Nicopolis),  on  the  southern  side  of  the  valley.  Aijalon 
commanded  the  descent  to  the  plain  by  W.  Selman,  as  Beth- 
shemesh  did  that  by  W.  Surar  (Sorek)  ;  cf.  i  S!  6^.  —  ShaalMm'] 
I  K.  4^  Jos.  i9'*l  Knobel,  Conder,  and  others  would  find  it  at 
Selbit,  on  the  north  side  of  the  valley,  two  miles  N.  of  'Amwas, 
and  about  three  miles  NW.  of  Yalo.  The  site  is  not  unsuitable, 
but  the  similarity  of  the  names  is  extremely  slight,  and  all  other 
data  are  wanting.  —  The  hand  of  the  house  of  Joseph  rested  heav- 


*  Hardly  Philistines,  as  Bu.  (p.  i8  n.)  is  tempted  to  conjecture,  —  a  reading 
which  editors  or  scribes  would  be  much  less  likely  to  change.  Nor  does  the  name 
Amorites  include  the  Philistines,  as  Mey.  erroneously  gathers  from  i  S.  7I* 
{ZATW.  i.  123).  The  date  of  the  Philistine  invasion  is  uncertain;  but  their 
occupation  of  the  lowland  may  have  crowded  the  Canaanites  back  upon  Dan. 

t  Merg  ibn  'Omeir;  Rob.,  DR"^.  iii.  p.  144;  Pkys.  Geog.,  p.  113. 

X  So  Cler.,  Hiller  {Ono?n.  sacra,  1706,  p.  560). 

§  Rob.,  BR'^.  ii.  p.  224  f.;  Guerin,  Jndee,  ii.  p.  18-22. 

II  BR'^.\\.  p.  253  f.,  iii.  p.  144  f. ;  see  also  Gu6rin,  Judee,  i.  p.  290  ff . ;  SWP. 
Memoirs,  iii.  p.  19. 


54  JUDGES 

ily  upon  the??t~\  lit.  gre7v  heavy ;  cf.  i  S.  5*^.  The  language  does 
not  strictly  refer  to  conquest.  The  places  seem  to  have  come 
under  Israelite  dominion  before  the  division  of  the  kingdom  ;  they 
are  all  included  in  one  of  Solomon's  prefectures  (i  K.  4^).  Beth- 
shemesh  was  Israelite  still  earUer  (i  S.  6). 

34.  As  V.3S,  in  any  case,  is  not  the  original  sequel  of  v.^**-,  it  is  unsafe  to 
infer  much  from  their  present  juxtaposition.  Moreover,  in  v.^^  the  text  is 
corrupt  precisely  in  the  critical  words;  for  Aniorites  we  must  read  Edomites 
(Hollenb.,  Bu.,  Kitt.).  The  form  of  v.^^-  corresponds  as  closely  to  the  rest 
of  the  chapter  as  the  different  situation  admits,  and  the  coincidences  in 
phraseology  become  more  significant  against  the  other  differences;  observe 
pD;?  in  contrast  to  in  v.^i  (v.i^),  n:ia''7  Sxvi  v.^^  {yP  Jos.  17I2),  r|DT>  r\>i  v.^s 
(V.22.23),  DO"'  Vn^1  V.35  (v.30. 33  Jqs.  i610);  cf.  v.^^b  with  V.28a,  y.^^b  with  V.19b 
(Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  i6).  The  contents  of  the  verse  fully  agree  with  what 
we  know  of  the  fortunes  of  Dan,  There  remains  only  the  name  Amorite, 
which  can  hardly  be  allowed  to  outweigh  these  evidences  of  unity  of  origin. 
The  change  may  have  been  made  by  an  editor;  or  the  corruption  in  v.^s  may 
have  worked  back  into  the  preceding  verses,  with  which  that  was  thought  to 
be  closely  connected.  —  "ishV""-!]  i^nV  lit.  *  squeeze,  crowd,'  Nu.  22^5,  trop.  Am. 
61*  Jud.  ioi2;  freq,  in  ptcp.  csniS,  'oppressors,'  Jud.  2^^  6^  &c.  i  S.  iqI^. — 
unj  nS  ^r]  better  aun:  nSi  Jos.  ig^'^  0,  Bu.,  Kitt.  — 35.  Dnn  in]  D;in,  'the 
sun,'  Job  9"^;  cf.  Din  njDn  Jud.  2^,  Dinn  nSyD^o  8^^  Dinn  niy  Is.  19I8  (Helio- 
polis  in  Egypt  =  •i'Dtt'  T\^2  Jer.  43^^).*  Beth-shemesh,  a  border  town  of  the 
Israelites  (i  S.  6^-'^^-),  on  the  boundary  of  Judah  (Jos.  i^^^),  to  which  tribe 
it  is  reckoned  to  belong  (Jos.  21I6)  ;  cf  OS'^.  237^9.  —  Aijalon]  Jerome  (OS^. 
8928)*  correcting  on  Jewish  authority  an  error  of  Euseb.,  puts  it  2  R.  m.  from 
Nicopolis  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem;   cf.  ep.  108,  8  (^Opp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  i.  690). 

—  Shaalbivi]  The  name  Selbit  (JajuJLv)  cannot  represent  noS>';:';   see  the 

thorough  investigations  of  Kampffmeyer  in   ZDPV.  xv.  xvi.     (^  translates 

dXc67re/ces,  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that   Hebrew  had  a  noun  n'?;;^' 

^  s 

corresponding  to  <^>AjtJ',  as  well  as  S^'iU',  (JjtlJ,  xJUt-J.     Aq.  Symm.  Theod. 

SaXaiSeti',  which,  corrupted   to   Qa\a0€iv,  has  found    its   way   as   a   doublet 

into  (5^.     The  other  variations  of  (^  in  this  verse  are  particularly  interesting. 

—  "C  n^Dni]  (3  adds  irri  rbv  'Kfioppaiov.  Cf.  *?;?  H""  T;7ni  31*^  62.  ^  Doom, 
(p.  1 1  f )  regards  33b  35b  as  patriotic  interpolations  (cf.  (5  v.so-  3i) ;  the 
Israelites  cannot  have  thus  subjected  the  more  numerous  and  stronger  native 
population.  These  notices,  however,  describe  the  situation  at  a  later  time, 
after  the  consolidation  of  the  Israelite  power  in  Canaan. 

36.  The  Edomite  frontier.  — The  verse  has  no  connexion  with 
the  preceding.     The  Pass  of  Akrabbim  was  on  the  southern  or 

*  See  on  2'^.    The  te.xt  of  Jud.  14I8  (nonnn)  is  corrupt. 


I.  34-36  55 

southeastern  frontier  of  Judah,  toward  Edom  (Nu.  34^^-  Jos.  15^"*)  ; 
Sela,  an  Edomite  stronghold  (2  K.  14'')  which  lay  still  further 
east.  The  Hebrew  text  has  the  boundary  of  the  Amorites,  which 
could  only  be  understood  of  the  old  southern  boundary  of  their 
land,  which  thus  became  the  limit  of  the  IsraeHte  conquests.  This 
would,  however,  be  a  singularly  roundabout  way  of  making  a  plain 
statement.  It  is  therefore  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that, 
following  certain  recensions  of  ^,  we  should  restore,  the  boimdary 
of  the  Edomites  was,  6^^.*  This  description  of  the  southern 
boundary  has  no  connexion  with  the  seats  of  Dan  in  the  West ; 
it  would  stand  appropriately  after  v.^^  (the  Kenites)  or  v.^^  (Sim- 
eon), but  from  the  form  of  v.^*^  it  may  be  doubted  whether  this 
was  its  original  place.  I  am  inclined  to  conjecture  that  the 
source  from  which  the  material  of  Jud.  i  was  derived  contained 
a  brief  description  of  the  frontier  between  Israel  and  its  neigh- 
bours on  different  sides,  of  which  only  this  fragment  has  been  pre- 
served. — The  Edomites']  the  nearest  kinsmen  of  the  Israelites  and 
their  neighbours  on  the  SE. — The  Akrabbim  Pass]  Scorpion  Pass. 
Doubtless  one  of  the  principal  passes  leading  up  from  the  Arabah  ; 
probably  the  Naqb  es-Safa,  by  which  the  main  road  from  Petra  to 
Hebron  ascends.f  —  To  Sela  and  beyond]  Hebrew  text  and  ver- 
sions, from  Sela,  which  gives  us  two  points  of  departure  remote 
from  each  other  and  no  further  limit.  Sela  (The  Cliff)  is  com- 
monly identified  with  the  later  capital  of  the  Nabataeans,  Petra ; 
but  this  identification,  in  itself  dubious,  \  is  here  impossible.  The 
boundary  between  Judah  and  Edom  can  never  have  run  from 
Naqb  es-Safa  to  Wady  Musa.  We  require  a  point  near  the  south- 
ern end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  which  equally  well  suits  2  K.  14^^  Is.  i6\ 
The  emendation  is  easy  and  seems  necessary.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  end  of  the  verse  is  complete. 

(5^^  exactly  represent  |^,  with  which  ?L®S>  also  agree;   but  ©alm  j  g  (gub 
ohel.)  have  rh  opiop  toO  'Afxoppatov  6  'Idov/xaios.    'Idovfxaios  prob.  represents 


*  Budde,  I^ic/if.  u.  Sam.,  p.  i8  f.;  Kitt,GdN.  i.  i.  p.  243.  Hollenberg  (ZA  TIV. 
i.  p.  102-104),  i"^  closer  agreement  with  dH,  proposed  "  the  border  of  the  Amorites 
were  the  Edomites,"  &c. 

t  Knob.,  Grove  (DBK),  Ri.  {HWB.  s.  v.),  Di.  {ND^.  p.  209),  Be.,  al.  Descrip- 
tions of  the  Naqb  es-Safa,  Rob.,  B/?^.  ii.  i8o  f. ;  Schubert,  /deise,  ii.  p.  443,  447  ff. 

X  See  Buhl,  Gescu.  der  Edom.  iter,  p.  34  f. 


56  JUDGES 

a  sound  correction  in  Hebrew.  — ;7'?Dn:D]  <3'^^  t  e-n-l  rrjs  T^rpas,  probably  cor- 
rection of  diro.  A  terminus  ad  quern  is  indispensable;  d  in  v^dhd  may  easily 
have  originated  in  dittography.  We  should  accordingly  restore  the  text  as 
follows :  nSyni  ySon  Donpp  nVyDD  >DiNn  Suji. 

On  the  Edomites,  see  K  Buhl,  Geschichte  der  Edomiter,  1893.  The  name 
occurs  in  a  passage  of  the  Papyrus  Anastasi,  where  permission  is  asked  for 
Bedawin  of  'A-dii-ma  (Edom)  to  pass  the  frontier  fortress  at  T'^-ku  (Succoth) 
to  pasture  their  flocks  in  the  fields  of  the  Pharaoh;  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa, 
p.  135.  In  the  Assyrian  inscriptions  frequently;  Schrader,  KAT'^,  p.  149  f. 
DO-^py  n^;'^:]  ^piov  tovto  ttjs  'Idovfxaiai  (Lat.,  Judaeae)  dvaroXiKov,  Pro- 
cop.;  cf.  also  I  Mace.  5^.  Rob.  (BJ^'^.  ii.  p.  120)  proposed  the  line  of  cliffs, 
fifty  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  which  cross  the  Ghor  in  an  irregular 
curve  from  NW.  to  SE.,  seven  or  eight  miles  S.  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  point  at 
which  the  Arabah  breaks  down  to  the  lower  level  of  the  Ghor.  But  apart 
from  the  fact  that  this  is  no  pass,  it  falls  with  Rob.'s  false  identification  of 
Kadesh  ('Ain  el-Weibeh).  The  description  of  the  boundary  (Nu.  343^- 
Jos.  15^-^)  requires  a  pass  on  a  line  between  the  southern  end  of  the  Dead 
Sea  and  Kadesh  ('Ain  Qudeis) .  The  conditions  are  best  fulfilled  by  Naqb  es- 
Safa;  Naqb  ibn  Mar  (Wilson,  DB^.  s.  v.)  is  also  possible.  W.  az-Zuweireh 
(De  Saulcy)  is  much  too  far  north.  —  ySon]  is  understood  as  the  name  of  the 
Edomite  capital,  Petra,  by  Procop.,  Vatab.,  Cler.,  Rosenm.,  Ew.  (GVI.  i. 
p.  338)  ;  Stud.,  Be.,  Cass.,  Oett.,  al.  The  equivalence  of  the  names  is  seduc- 
tive, but  the  identification  has  no  more  substantial  basis.  The  passages  in 
which  Sela  occurs  (Jud.  i^^  2  K.  14'  Is.  16I)*  all  seem  to  point  to  a  cliff  near 
the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea;  we  may  perhaps  conjecture  that  it  was  the 
modern  es-Safieh,  a  bare  and  dazzlingly  white  sandstone  promontory  a  thou- 
sand feet  high-t 

II.  1-5.  The  Angel  of  Yahweh  goes  up  from  Gilgal ;  he  up- 
braids the  Israelites  for  sparing  the  people  of  the  land,  and 
foretells  the  consequences.  Origin  of  the  name  Bochim.  —  That 
2^"'  is  to  be  joined  to  i  is  now  generally  recognized  ;  2^'''^''  is  the 
fitting  close  of  the  account  of  the  conquest  and  settlement  in  ch. 
I  ;  2**^'^*  connects  ch.  i  with  the  Book  of  Judges  (2^^),  and  ex- 
plains to  us  in  what  sense  and  with  what  intention  ch.  i  was 
prefixed.  —  Verse  ^'^  is  the  counterpart  of  Jos.  18^  (^)'t  Israel 
being  now  firmly  established  in  Canaan,  the  religious  centre  is 
transferred  from  the  plains  of  Jericho,  where  they  first  gained  a 


*  Is.  42II  is  too  indefinite  to  be  taken  into  account. 
t  Buhl,  op.  cit.,  p.  20. 

X  Wc.,  Comp.,\).  'zic^;   Mey.,   Kue.,  Sta.,  Bu.  —  In  P,  18^  must  originally  have 
stood  before  i^^-^  (We.,  Di.). 


I.  3&-II.  I  57 

foothold  in  Western  Palestine,  to  a  sanctuary  in  the  heart  of  the 
land.  This  change  is  signalized  by  the  removal  of  the  Angel  of 
Yahvveh,*  his  presence  manifested  in  oracle  and  theophany,  from 
Gilgal  to  the  new  holy  place,  which,  upon  his  appearance  there, 
is  consecrated  by  sacrifice  (v.^'').  The  transfer  of  the  religious 
centre  to  Bethel  marks  the  end  of  the  period  of  invasion,  as  the 
preceding  period  of  migration  ended  with  the  encampment  at 
Gilgal  (Jos.  5^"'^^).  What  stands  between  (v.^*^'^*^)  is  in  substance 
and  form  strikingly  different  from  ch.  i,  and  bears  the  stamp  of 
the  school  of  Hebrew  historiography  which,  for  lack  of  a  more 
suitable  general  name,  we  call  Deuteronomicf  It  does  not  exacdy 
agree  with  2"^-,  however,  still  less  with  2^  3^"^,  and  on  external 
grounds  also  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  author  of  that  Introduc- 
tion to  the  Book  of  Judges.  It  doubtless  comes  from  the  hand 
of  the  editor  who  introduced  ch.  i  in  this  place,  t 

1.  T/ie  Messenger  of  YahweJi]  not  a  prophet,  §  but,  as  always 
in  Jud.,  Yahweh  himself  as  he  appears  to  men  in  human  form  or 
otherwise  sensibly  manifests  his  presence;  cf.  Ex.  3^  32^"*  23^^- 
Nu.  20^  Jos.  5^^-^^ ;  see  comm.  on  6^\  The  appearance  of  the 
maVak  (theophany)  at  Bethel  is  the  sign  that  Yahweh  will  hence- 
forth there  receive  the  worship  of  his  people  and  make  himself 
known  to  them  (Ex.  20"-^) .\  —  From  Gilgall  Jos.  d^'^'^'^  5^"  2  S. 
J  ^15. 40^  Between  the  fords  of  the  Jordan  and  Jericho,  where  the 
Israelites  first  encamped  after  crossing  the  river,  and  where,  ac- 
cording to  Jos.  (f  lo*"'^-^^-^^  14^,  they  long  maintained  a  standing 
camp.^  The  name,  which  occurs  elsewhere  in  Palestine,  seems 
to  be  derived  from  ancient  stone  circles  (cromlechs)  ;  **  cf.  Jos. 
4^.  Gilgal  was,  in  the  eighth  century,  a  frequented  sanctuary ; 
Amos  (4^^-  5^^)  and  Hosea  (4^^  9'^  12")  name  it  with  Bethel  and 

*  Cf.  Ex.  2320.  t  We.,  Mey.,  Sta.,  Kue.,  Bu.,  Kitt.,  Dr. 

X  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  20. 

^  ^  (ffiS  vid.)  Rabb.,  Drus.,  Stud.;  specifically,  Phineas,  Midr.  Tanch.,  2Dcr. 
RLbG.,  Cass.  —  An  angel,  Thdt,,  Aug.,  a  Lap. ;  in  human  form,  Ephrem. 

II  Examples  of  the  establishment  of  an  altar  at  the  scene  of  a  theophany,  Gen. 
I27f.  262tf-  35iff- ;  or  of  the  appearance  of  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh,  Jud.  624  12I5-20 
2  S.  24i5ff..  — See  further,  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  Semites,  Pt.  i.  p.  108  f. 

H  Representation  of  E  ?  It  is  probable,  though  not  certain,  that  the  same  place 
is  meant  in  i  S.  7I6  iqS  iii4f-  &c. 

**  The  etymology  proposed  in  Jos.  5'^  is  more  ingenious  than  plausible. 


58  JUDGES 

Beersheba  as  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  Yahweh  worship.  Modern 
explorers  have  found  traces  of  the  ancient  name  in  Tell  Gelgiil 
and  Birket  Gilguliyeh.  —  T^  Bethel  (?)]  the  Hebrew  text,  which 
is  confirmed  by  all  the  versions,  to  Bochim,  i.e.,  to  the  place 
subsequently  so  named  from  the  weeping  there  on  this  occasion 
(v.^").*  In  v.^  we  expect,  however,  the  older  name  of  the  place, 
and  a  name  of  greater  note.  This  is  perhaps  preserved  in  the  con- 
flate text  of  ({^,  which  beside  litX  tov  KXavOfjiwva  (Bochim)  has  an^ 
to  Bethel  and  to  the  house  of  Is7'ael.\  Bochim  ("Weepers")  may 
then  be  connected  with  Allon  Bacuth  ("  Weeping  Tree  ")  below 
Bethel  (Gen.  35^;  see  on  v.^).  Since,  according  to  Jos.  18^  19^^, 
the  tabernacle  was  at  Shiloh,  others  think  that  Bochim  must  have 
been  near  that  sanctuary.  \  The  original  sequel  of  v.^"  was  *, 
"and  they  sacrificed  there  to  Yahweh";  see  below,  ad  loc. — 
I''.  I  brought  you  up  from  Egypt']  so  the  context  and  the  follow- 
ing tenses  require  ;  J^  /  will  bring  you  up.  The  false  tense  sug- 
gests that  some  words  have  fallen  out  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sentence,  and  various  attempts  have  been  made,  beginning  with 
the  ancient  versions,  to  fill  the  lacuna.  The  most  satisfactory  of 
these  is,  /  visited  you  aiid  brought  you  up,  dr'c. ;  but  it  is  not  im- 
possible that  this  improves  on  the  author.  —  The  land  ivhich  I 
sware  to  your  fathers]  this  reference  to  the  oath  made  to  the 
forefathers  is  very  common  in  Dt.  (i«@  1^  510.  is.  23  ^13  §1  ii9-2i 
19^  2(i^-^^  28^^  30^^  2j2o.2i.23^  ^(,_^  ^j^(^  ij^  editorial  additions  to 
other  books  of  the  Pentateuch  (Rje.  Rd. ;  cf.  Gen.  50-"^  Ex.  13^-^^ 
32^3  33I  Nu.  T4i«-23  32II)  ;  §  the  promise.  Gen.  17^  (J)  13^^  15^"  26^ 
28^^*^^ ;  also  1 7*  35^  (P) .  —  /  will  never  annul  my  agreeinent  with 
you]  in  the  light  of  v.^,  not  the  covenant  with  the  forefathers  just 
spoken  of,  but  that  of  Ex.  34^^^-,  to  which  the  reference  in  the 
following  is  unmistakable.  -^  2.  You  shall  make  no  terfns]  Ex.  34^^ ; 
the  command  that  accompanied  his  promise  and  constitutes  the 
obligation  of  the  other  part.  —  Full  down  their  altars]  Ex.  34^^, 
"  pull  down  their  altars  and  shatter  their  stone  pillars  {massebahs) 
and  hew  down  their  wooden  posts"  {asherahs) — the  sacred  sym- 

•  The  use  of  the  name   in  v.i  is  explained  as  an  anticipation ;  Rabb.,  Aug., 
Drus.,  Cler.,  Stud. 

t  The  emendation  liethcl  is  adopted  by  We,,  Comp.,  p.  215  ;  Mey.,  Kuc.,  Bu.,  Kitt. 
\  Cass.,  lia.,  ai.  §  Di.  on  Dt.  i8. 


n.  1-5  59 

bols  which  stood  beside  the  altars ;  cf.  Dt.  f  12^;  further  Ex. 
23^-  Nu.  2>'^'^'  J*^s-  23^-'^-. — You  have  not  heeded  my  injunction\ 
cf.  Ex.  23^"-.  The  words  contain  the  author's  judgment  on  the 
failure  to  exterminate  the  Canaanites,  ch.  i. — What  have  you 
done .?]  8^  Gen.  ^'■^ ;  What  is  this  you  have  done  ?  not,  Why  have 
you  done  this  ?  *  —  3.  A?id  I  also  said~\  many  understand  this  as  a 
declaration  of  present  purpose,  setting  it  over  against  /  said,  w} : 
I  said  I^wiH^noFlDreak  my  word  with  you,  I  will  drive  out  these 
nations  (Ex.  34^°^)  ;  but  you  have  disobeyed  my  command  to 
make  no  terms  with  them  ;  therefore  I  have  now  also  said,  I  will 
not  drive  them  out.f  But  if  this  antithesis  had  been  designed,  v."^ 
would  hardly  begin  as  it  does,  and  I  also  said,  but  rather,  thej-e- 
fo7'e  I  say,  or,  so  I  now  say.  It  is  preferable,  therefore,  to  regard 
v.^  as  referring  to  a  previous  warning  such  as  Jos.  23^^  Nu.  Ty-^"^,  \ 
fronTwhich  the  peculiar  expression  in  v.'^''  is  perhaps  derived. 
That  this  threat  was  now  to  be  carried  out,  did  not  need,  after 
v.^^,  to  be  expressly  declared. — They  will  be  tho7-ns  in  your 
sides  (?)]  so  the  text  is  usually  filled  out  from  Nu.  33'^,  cf.  Jos. 
23^^  ~(a  scotu'ge  [?]  on  your  flanks).  The  text,  which  can  be 
literally  translated  only,  they  will  be  sides  to  you,  may  be  ex- 
plained as  an  unintelligent  abridgment  of  one  of  these  passages. 
Others  would  translate,  in  parallelism  with  the  next  clause,  they 
will  be  traps  for  you  ;  §  cf.  Jos.  23^^^'.  —  And  their  gods  will  be  a 
snare  to  you'\  Ex.  34^^  23*^  Dt.  7^^.  Not  an  occasion  of  sin  only, 
but  a  cause  of  sudden  and  unexpected  ruin  ;  cf.  Is.  8^*-  ^^,  Yahweh 
is  *'a  springe  and  a  snare  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem."  Au- 
gustine, however,  goes  too  deep  when  he  infers  from  the  verse, 
"nonnulla  etiam  de  ira  Dei  venire  peccata."  || — 4.  The  people 
broke  Old  into  loud  weeping']  21^  i  S.  ii'*,  &c.  —  5.  They  gave  the 
place  the  7iame  Bochim'\  i.e.,  Weepers.  The  subject  may  be  in- 
definite,—^^^  the  place  got  the  na?ne  B.  ((g"^*^).  A  place  Bochim 
is  not  otherwise  known.     It  is  perhaps  a  far-fetched  etymological 


*  ILS«,  Lth.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  AV.,  RV.  al.  mu. 

t  So  !L,  Thdt.,  Ra.,  Schm.,  Trem.  — Jun.,  Cler.,  Stud.,  Ba.,  Reuss,  Kitt.— Ap- 
plication of  the  principle,  "  Frangenti  fidem  fides  frangatur  eidem,"  Schm. 
+  Abarb..  Ke. 

§  Abulw.,  Cler.  {retia),  Lth.,  Fr.  Delitzsch, 
II  See  Schm.,  qu.  2. 


6o  JUDGES 

explanation  of  a  name  Beka'im  (2  S.  5-^^)  ;  *  cf.  also  the  valley 
of  Baca  (Ps.  84'),  and  Allon  Bacuth  (Gen.  t,^^)  .  — They  sacri- 
ficed there  to  Vahiaeh']  original  sequel  of  v.^^-.  It  is  not  improba- 
ble that  the  older  history  related  the  building  of  the  altar  at 
Bethel,  and  perhaps  other  things,  which  have  been  supplanted  by 
v.^^"^" ;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  regard  the  context  as 
so  fragmentary  that  the  original  connexion  and  intention  cannot 
be  made  out.f 

Older  scholars  regarded  2^-^  as  a  fragment  having  no  connexion  with  either 
what  precedes  or  what  follows  (Ziegler,  T/ieo/.  Abhandl.,  i.  1 791,  p.  295);  or, 
misled  by  the  similarity  in  tone  between  a^^-^^  and  2^-36,  as  a  piece  taken 
from  some  other  context  and  set  here  as  a  prelude,  or  text,  to  the  following 
(Stud.).  Another  point  which  was  much  discussed  by  earlier  commentators 
is  whether  the  events  here  related  occurred  before  or  after  the  death  of 
Joshua;  see  Cler.,  Schm.,  qu.  3,  Stud.  —  1.  Gilgal'\  according  to  Fl.  Jos.,  antt. 
V.  I,  4  §  20,  in  the  plain  E.  of  Jericho,  10  stadia  from  that  city  and  50  from 
the  Jordan;  Euseb.  (^OS'^.  24394  cf.  23355)  describes  it  as  a  deserted  site  2  R. 
m.  E.  of  Jericho,  still  holy  to  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood;  cf.  Jerome,  ep. 
108,  12  (^Opp.  i.  696,  ed.  Vail.).  A  Gilgal,  with  a  church  in  whioji  the  twelve 
stones  set  up  by  Joshua  were  shown,  was  visited  by  pilgrims  down  to  the  7th  or 
8th  cent.  %  Zschokke  in  1865  found  a  mound  covered  with  large  stones  which 
the  Arabs  called  Tell  GelgSl  (^Beitrd^e  zur  Topographie  der  tvestl.  Jordansau, 
p.  28);  cf.  Guerin,  Safjiarie,  i.  p.  117  ff.,  who  discovered  the  mosaic  floor  of 
a  church.  Conder  identifies  Gilgal  with  Birket  Gilguliyeh  {Gt.  Map^  sh.  18 
Ps),  nearer  to  Eriha  (Jericho);  see  PER  Statements,  1874,  p.  36-38;  SJVP. 
Memoirs,  iii.  p.  173,  191.  —  D"iD3n  Vn]  v.  5  □"'33;  the  art.  is  perhaps  an  addi- 
tional ground  of  suspicion.  (§,  with  substantial  unanimity,  etrl  rbv  KXavd/xibva 
Kal  irrl  Baidi]\  Kal  iirl  rbv  oIkov  laparfK.  §  The  first  words  (cf.  the  pi.  KXai^^/itD- 
j'es,  v.^)  may. reasonably  be  suspected  of  being  a  later  conformation  to  |^  (We.)  ; 
Bu.  {Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  21)  regards  the  rest  of  ©  as  genuine,  and  restores 
^>A-\v^  n-'j  Sni  Sx  no  Sn  SjSjd  mn-'  ^nSd  Sj;m,  or  tior  no;. so  also  Kitt.  I 
suspect  that  Sn-ic'''  no  is  merely  an  accidental  doublet  of  Sn  no.  |1  A  critical 
significance  has  sometimes  been  attached  to  the  space  (NpDD)  in  the  middle 
of  the  verse,  as  indicating  a  lacuna  or  break  in  the  text;    but  it  is  more 


*  Appellatively  a  kind  of  tree.  <E5  etymologizes  in  the  same  way  in  2  S.  s23f-  and 
Ps.  84",  translating  K\av9ixtJiv  as  here.  The  place  cannot  be  the  same  as  in  2  S. ; 
the  latter  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem.  Hitz.  (Pss.  84" ;  G  VI.  i.  p.  107)  identifies 
the  valley  of  Baca  with  the  Bochim  (Bekaim)  of  our  text. 

t  Kucnen.  +  See  DB'-.  s.  v. 

^  In  3  the  crit.  signs  are  confused;    but  doubtless  meant  to  athetize  all  after 

II  Zicglcr  expresses  a  similar  suspicion,  but  thinks  of  a  Greek  corruption. 


n.  5  6i 

probably  connected  with  an  older  or  discrepant  division  of  the  verses,*  — 
n'p^'N]  the  versions  have  supplied  various  beginnings  for  the  sentence  which 
do  not  meet  the  difficulty.  Stud,  and  Be.  would  insert  -"n-icx  (I  proposed  to 
bring  you  up,  &c.;  cf.  Ra.);  Bottch,  {Neue  exeget.  Krit.  Aehrenlese,  p,  74) 
conjectured  'J1  nS;;N  idni  ddhn  '•mpa  npa  (nSyx  future),  cf.  Ex.  ^^^^-  Gen. 
50-*,  which  Doom,  improves  upon  by  reading  n^;jNi  for  nV^'x  nnxi.  This 
gives  us  an  unimpeachable  text.  The  speech  of  the  angel  is,  however,  a  cento 
of  quotations  and  reminiscences,  and  it  is  at  least  possible  that  the  author  here 
copied  Ex.  3^''*  without  correcting  the  tense.  Attempts  to  explain  nS^'x  gram- 
matically (Roorda,  §  367;  Dr.^  §  27  7;  Ges.^^  §  107  i  <z;  Ba.,  al.)  are  forced,  and 
do  not  account  for  the  following  noni.  —  inn3  isx  nS]  make  of  no  effect, 
annul,  I  K.  15^^;  in  religious  sense  common  in  Jer.  Ez.  Dt.  and  later.  —  2. 
©  presents  a  longer  text,  probably  amplified  from  the  parallels  in  Ex.  and  Dt. 
Doom,  and  Bu.  (^ThLZ.  1884,  211),  on  the  contrary,  think  that  P^  has  been 
abridged.  The  "  singular  antithesis,"  make  no  terms  .  .  .  but  pull  down  their 
altars,  at  which  Doom,  stumbles,  stands  just  so  in  Ex,  341--  ^^.  —  nna  inijn  mS] 
the  phrase  jtid::  niD  (usually  with  d;;  or  nx,  herewith  S,  as  in  i  S,  n^,  'prescribe 
terms  to ')  apparently  originated  in  the  rite  described  in  Jer,  341^*'-,  cf.  Gen.  15I0. 
See  the  parallels  collected  by  Bochart,  Hierozoicon,\.  ii,  c,  33  (i.  p,  332  ff.  ed. 
Rosenm.),  Di.  in  BL.  s.  v.,  "Bund";  and  on  the  probable  significance  of  the 
rite,  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  Semites,  Pt.  i,  p.  461  f.;  further,  Valeton,  in 
ZATIV.  xii.  225  ff.  On  the  etymology  and  signification  of  nna  see  on 
22o._7.ii'hn  DH^mn^TD]  yj^j  'pull  down,  pull  to  pieces,'  Ex.  34I3  Dt.  f  12^ 
Jud.  628-30.31  2  K.  23I2;  of  houses  (Is.  22IO),  tower  (Jud.  S^- ^^),  cities 
(Jer,  4^6),  &c.  The  altars  were  probably  built  of  stones,  Ex.  20"^^  i  Mace. 
444ff..  "YYiQ  form  of  the  verb,  with  preservation  of  0  and  ending  un,  also 
Ex.  34I3,  Bo.  §  930,  —  D.-ivj»j;  nx?  nn]  Ges.'^^  §  136,  n.  2.  —  3.  ii'ijx  x"?]  cnj 
Ex.  2328-29.30.31  332  34II  Jos.  24I2-I8  Jud.  69;  frequent  in  E  (Bu.,  Ric/it.  u. 
Sam.,  p.  U59).  —  nils'?  ooS  rm]  cf.  Nu.  33^^  DDnp  3''J''.;^S  J°^-  ^3^^  ^"5^'' 
DD''j'';72  DijJiSi  DDns3.  In  view  of  the  apparent  reference  to  this  threat,  it  is 
probably  best  to  correct  Jud.  to  conform  to  Nu.  Whether  hasty  abridgment 
or  transcriptional  accident  has  produced  the  present  text  is  uncertain.  The 
ancient  versions  seem  to  have  read  or  guessed  onsS  or  cnii'S,  cf.  ddhx  n"\i'i 
Nu.  33^^'';  so  ©  et's  a-vvoxd-s  I  in  angustias,  in  pressura,  IL  hostes,  ^  ppi^^cS. 
Stud.,  Be,,  Doom,  would  emend  accordingly;  but  the  reading  of  these  verss. 
has  the  marks  of  a  bad  (though  natural  and  old)  conjecture;  the  idea  thus 
conveyed  is  too  self-evident  to  suit  the  emphatic  context;  moreover,  "is  is 
never  found  in  a  similar  connexion.  Abulw.,  connecting  ans  with  ms  *  hunt,' 
interpreted  *  snares,  traps,'  and  this  explanation  has  been  recently  revived  by 
Fr.  Delitzsch,  //e3r.  Lang.,  p.  29  f..  Prolegomena,  p,  75  f,,  comparing  Assyrian 

*  The  former  opinion  was  maintained  by  Morinus  and  many  older  scholars  (see 
Ges.,  Lehrgebdude,  p.  124)  ;  the  theory  has  lately  been  revived  by  Graetz  and 
controverted  by  Sidon ;  see  Theol.  Jahresbericht,  iv.  p.  18 ;  Graetz'  rejoinder, 
Monatsschrift.  f.  G.  u.  W.  d.  Judenthums,  1S87,  p.  193-200. 


62  JUDGES 

^addu,  '  trap,  springe.'  Another  comparatively  simple  solution  would  be  to 
pronounce  oni-'?  (cf.  ms  Ex.  21^^  esp.  i  S.  24I2),  'huntsmen,  trappers.'  — 
Doj]  the  form  of  this  n.  pr.  loci  (act.  ptcp.)  strengthens  the  suspicion  that 
the  pronunciation  has  been  deflected  in  favour  of  the  etymology. 


II.  6-XVI.  31.    The  History  of  Israel  in  Canaan 
IN  THE  Days  of  the  Judges. 

II.  6-III.  6.  Introduction ;  the  religious  pragmatism  of  the 
history. 

After  the  great  assembly  and  solemn  covenant  at  Shechem  (Jos. 
2V"^),  Joshua  sends  the  people  away  to  occupy  the  lands  which 
have  been  allotted  to  them  (2^).  Israel  continues  faithful  to 
Yahweh  as  long  as  Joshua  and  the  survivors  of  his  generation  live, 
but  after  they  have  passed  away,  and  a  new  generation  comes  up 
who  have  not  seen  the  great  deliverances  and  victories  of  their 
God,  the  heathenizing  of  Israel  begins  (v.''"^^).  The  people  neg- 
lect Yahweh  for  the  worship  of  the  Baals  and  Astartes,  the  gods 
of  Canaan  (v.^^"^^).  Yahweh  visits  his  anger  upon  them  by  the 
hand  of  their  foes  and  they  are  brought  into  great  straits  (v.^'""-) . 
Anon,  moved  by  their  groans  under  foreign  tyranny,  he  raises  up 
champions  who  deliver  them  ;  but  they  do  not  even  then  aban- 
don the  worship  of  other  gods,  and  the  death  of  the  judge  is 
always  a  signal  for  a  worse  relapse  into  heathenism  (v.^^"^'') .  In 
indignation  at  this  incurable  unfaithfulness,  Yahweh  vows  that  he 
will  not  complete  the  expulsion  of  the  peoples  of  the  land,  but 
will  leave  them  to  tempt  Israel.  The  Israelites  intermarry  with 
their  neighbours  and  adopt  their  rehgion  (2''^-3^). 

This  general  introduction  contains  an  interpretation  and  judge- 
ment of  the  history  of  the  whole  period,  which  is  represented  as 
"  an  almost  rhythmical  alternation  of  idolatry  and  subjugation,  re- 
turn to  Yahweh  and  hberation"  *  The  motives  out  of  which  it 
is  constructed  reappear  in  the  particular  introduction  to  the  story 
of  each  of  the  Judges.  A  typical  example  is  3^--^^ :  The  Israel- 
ites again  did  what  displeased  Yahweh,  and  Yahweh  gave  Eglon, 
king  of  Moab,  power  over  Israel.   ...     And  the  Israehtes  served 

*  Vatke,  liiblische  Theologie,  1835,  p.  181. 


II.  6-III.  6  63 

Eglon,  king  of  Moab,  eighteen  years.  And  the  Israehtes  cried 
unto  Yahweh,  and  he  raised  them  up  a  deUverer,  Ehud  ben  Gera, 
the  Benjamite,  &c.  Compare  3''""  (Othniel),  4^"^  (Deborah),  13^ 
(Samson).  In  6^-^-^-'^^  (Gideon)  and  lo'^"^''  (Jephthah)  the  theme 
is  developed  at  greater  length,  the  latter  passage  being  closely 
parallel  to  2^-3''.  It  is  clear  from  the  prominence  given  to  the 
pragmatism  that  the  author's  aim  was  moral  and  religious  rather 
than  purely  historical ;  the  lesson  of  the  history  is  for  him  the 
chief  thing  in  the  history.*  He  has,  however,  contented  himself 
with  emphasizing  the  lesson  in  this  way,  and  has  hardly  touched 
the  stories  themselves.     See  further  on  3'^- 

The  introduction,  2*^-3^,  is  not  homogeneous.  Ch.  2^-'*^  is  the 
transition  from  the  history  of  the  conquest  under  Joshua  to  that 
of  the  Judges,  and  is  found,  with  slight  variations,  in  Jos.  24^"^^ 
also.f  In  v.""-^  two.  very  similar  accounts  have  been  intimately 
combined ;  while  in  2^  3^"^  fragments  of  an  independent  narrative 
(J)  also  enter  into  the  composition. 

On  the  analysis  of  2^-3*^  see  Bertheau^,  p.  viii.  f.,  xix.  f.,  55  ff.,  esp.  61  f.; 
Budde,  J^ic/a.  u.  Sam.,  p.  92-94,  155  ff.;  E.  Meyer,  ZATW.  i.  p.  144  f; 
Kuenen,  HCO"^.  i.  p.  y:,%  ff.;  Kittel,  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  51  ff.,  GdH.  i.  2. 
p.  5  f.  Although  Kuenen,  after  setting  aside  v.^^- 1"  as  interpolations,  finds  no 
ground  for  challenging  the  unity  of  2^'^--'^,  which  he  ascribes  as  a  whole  to  the 
Deuteronomic  author,  the  composite  character  of  the  passage  is  recognized  by 
most  recent  critics.  It  is  evident  in  the  duplication  of  almost  every  clause; 
cf.  V.12  with  V.13;  y}^^  (he  gave  them  into  the  power  of  spoilers)  with  v.^^** 
(he  sold  them  into  the  power  of  their  enemies) ;  v.^'^^-  with  v.^^-  The  char- 
acter of  these  doublets  points  to  composition  (Bu.),  rather  than  to  editorial 
expansion  or  interpolation.  We  can  separate  two  parallel  accounts,  each 
of  which  is  almost  completely  preserved;  the  two  are,  however,  in  thought 
and  phrase  so  much  alike,  and  the  style  of  the  redactor  so  similar  to  that  of 
both,  that  the  analysis  is  difficult  and  doubtful.  To  one  of  them  (E)  may  be 
assigned  2^- 8-10- 13. 14a.  16. 17.  20.  21  This  is  the  principal  narrative  and  is  intact, 
lacking  only  perhaps  some  such  words  as,  "And  the  Israelites  cried  unto 
Yahweh  "  (cf.  31^),  before  2^^.  To  the  other  belong  2^-  ^-  "b- 15.  I8.  w  \^  which 
the  nexus  between  v.'^  and  v.i-  is  wanting,  having  been  supplanted  by  the  words 


*  The  book  is,  as  Reuss  says,  "  die  natiirliche,  und  nur  in  andrer  Form  vorge- 
tragene  Predigt  eines  Propheten,  der  um  sich  her  das  fremde  Wesen  und  Ver- 
derben  in  erschreckender  Weise  iiberhand  nehmen  sah  "  ( Gesch.  d.  Alien  Test., 

k  275.) 

t  On  the  relation  between  Jos.  and  Jud.  see  below  on  2^. 


64  JUDGES 

of  E.  Verse"  is  an  addition  by  the  last  editor  (R).*  The  second  of  these 
exhibits  throughout  the  pecuharities  of  conception  and  expression  which  we 
find  in  the  Deuteronomic  strata  of  the  Hexateuch  and  the  Deuteronomic 
writers  in  the  Book  of  Kings,  as  well  as  in  the  introductions  to  the  stories  of 
the  several  Judges,  and  may  be  confidently  ascribed  to  the  same  school.  For 
brevity,  and  without  attempting  to  define  its  relation  to  the  cognate  parts  of 
Dt.  and  Jos.,  this  element  in  the  book  \fill  henceforth  be  designated  by  the 
signature  D  (Deuteronomic  author  of  Judges).  With  general  agreement  be- 
tween the  introductions  of  E  and  D,  there  are  slight  differences  of  repre- 
sentation which  should  not  be  overlooked.  In  E  the  sin  of  Israel  is  the 
worship  of  the  Baals  and  Astartes,  the  gods  of  Palestine  {2^^);  in  D  the 
adoption  of  the  religion  of  the  surrounding  nations  (v.i"^  cf.  lo^).  In  E  they 
are  delivered  into  the  hand  of  plunderers  (a^DC*  v.^^a) ;  in  D  sold  into  the 
power  of  the  enemies  who  surround  them  (\M^-^^),  with  which  compare  3^2 
(Moab),  6  ff.  (Midian),  lo^ff-  (Ammon),  13  ff.  (Philistines).  In  E  they  do  not 
obey  their  judges  but  persist  in  apostasy  (v.i"),  in  consequence  of  which 
Yahweh  resolves  not  to  drive  out  any  more  of  the  nations  which  Joshua  left 
unsubdued  (v.  20.  si'j.  in  D  a  reform  under  each  of  the  judges  is  followed  at 
his  death  by  a  worse  relapse  ( v.^^- 1^) .  In  2^3-36  fragments  of  a  third  source 
are  found  ;t  ch.  2^°-  3^  give  an  altogether  different  explanation  of  the  incom- 
pleteness of  the  conquest  from  2"2i  31*-  ^,  and  are  ascribed  by  Mey.  and  Bu. 
(cf.  Kitt.)  to  the  author  of  ch.  i  (J).t  The  list  of  nations,  3^,  is  thought 
by  these  scholars  to  be  derived  from  the  same  source,  but  this  seems  to  me 
less  probable;  2^^  3^  appear  to  me  to  refer  backward  to  ch.  i,  and  neither  to 
require  nor  admit  after  them  a  list  like  3^.  This  list,  which  corresponds  to 
Jos.  13-^-  rather  than  to  Jud.  I,  together  with  3^%  I  am  inclined  to  attribute 
to  E,  whose  narrative  would  then  run:  220-21  oiaa. 3. 4.  2,5.6  ^g^r  the  stamp  of 
Rje  rather  than  E,  and  may  have  as  their  basis  a  text  of  J;  2^2  31a ^  are 
redactional,  though  perhaps  not  by  the  same  hand. 

II.  6-10.  The  Israelites  settle  on  the  lands  allotted  them. 
Joshua  and  his  contemporaries  pass  away.    The  new  generation. 

—  6.=  Jos.  24^. — Joshua  dismissed  the  people,  6^^.]  the  conclu- 

*  Be.'s  analysis  is  :  A  2iia- 13.  M-19 ;  b  2iib.  12.  20-23  3I-5.  a  belongs  to  the  frame- 
work of  the  book,  and  is  interpolated  by  its  author  in  the  older  introduction  (B) . 
Bu.  materially  improves  upon  this:  A  (=  Deut.  author)  2ii- 12- 14-16. 18. 19 ;  B  (=  E) 
2I3.  20-22a  3S.  6 ;   A  and  B  were  united  by  a  later  editor  (R)  who  added  v.i". 

t  First  recognized  by  Meyer,  ZA  TW.  i.  p.  145. 

+  Mcy.'s  analysis  {'A A  TW-  i.  p.  145)  is  :  J  223a  31b.  2.  3 ;  E  222  (=  34)  23b  gia.  5.  6. 
(continuation  of  Jos.  24i3f-22),  Bu.  {Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  159  f.)  ascribes  to  E  222a 
3.'>.  0 .  34  is  introduced  by  R  to  recover  connexion.  The  original,  doubtless  very 
brief,  form  of  222-38  (in  substance  J),  can  hardly  be  recovered.  Kitt.  regards  a^s 
3I-3  (prob.  J)  as  the  only  old  part  of  this  passage ;  E  is  not  represented.  Kue. 
also  thinks  31-3  an  extract  from  an  older  source;  2^3  34  form  the  setting  given  it  by 
the  author  of  Judges. 


II.  6-8  65 

sion  of  the  account  of  the  great  assembly  at  Shechem  and  the 
parting  exhortations  of  Joshua  (Jos.  24^--' ;  substantially  E).  It 
was  followed  by  the  death  and  burial  of  Joshua  (v.^*"-  Jos.  24^"^'),  to 
which  E's  description  of  the  subsequent  apostasy  of  Israel  and 
its  consequences  ( v.^'^-  ^-  ^"^  ^*^^-  ^^■)  immediately  attached  itself.  The 
insertion  of  Jud.  i^^-2%  and  the  division  of  the  books,  left  the 
story  in  Jos.  without  a  suitable  close,  and  accordingly  Jud.  2^-^-® 
were  restored  in  their  original  connexion  in  Jos.  (24^^-^"),  carrying 
over  with  them  Jud.  2^  (=  Jos.  24^^),  an  addition  of  D."*  —  7.  = 
Jos.  24'^^  ((3  24^-^).  The  verse  is  not  by  the  same  hand  as  v.^^,  to 
which  it  is  parallel ;  v.^^  is  the  sequel  of  v.^  in  E,  v.^,  in  expression 
and  representation  Deuteronomic,  is  its  counterpart  in  D.  —  T/ie 
elders  who  survived  Joshua]  the  sheikhs,  the  head  men  of  the 
clans  and  families,  who  were  the  natural  guardians  of  Israelitish 
custom,  law,  and  religion.t  It  is  not  used  with  primary  reference 
to  age,  X  though  the  elders  here  meant  were  doubtless  the  coevals 
of  Joshua.  —  Who  su7'vived  Joshua]  lit.  prolofiged  days  after  J; 
a  very  common  phrase  in  Dt.  {e.g.  4^*^  5^  11^  17^  22''  30^^  32'^^) 
and  Deuteronomic  passages  in  other  books  {e.g.  i  K.  3^^ ;  cf.  also 
Ex.  20^2)  ;  otherwise  infrequent  (Is.  53^''  Prov.  28^^  Eccl.  8^^). — 
Who  had  seen  all  the  great  work  of  Yahweh]  v.^°  Jos.  24"^  had 
know7t,  experieftced.  The  "great  work  of  Yahweh"  is  not  to  be 
limited  to  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  but  comprehends  his  whole 
great  deliverance,  the  exodus,  the  wandering,  and  the  invasion,  of 
all  of  which  Joshua's  generation  had  been  witnesses ;  cf.  Dt.  11^"'^, 
where  Moses  recalls  to  the  Israelites,  as  they  are  about  to  cross 
the  Jordan,  how  their  eyes  had  seen  "  all  the  great  work  of  Yah- 
weh which  he  wrought"  (v.''),  specifying  the  Egyptian  plagues, 
the  dehverance  of  Israel  and  destruction  of  the  Egyptians  at  the 
Red  Sea,  &c.  (v.-"'^  cf.  f^''^).  The  author  of  Jud.  2',  like  the 
author  of  Dt.  1 1^"^  5-*^  7^^^^-,  represents  the  exodus  and  the  con- 
quest as  falling  within  the  lifetime  of  a  single  generation.  In  the 
memory  of  these  signal  manifestations  of  Yahweh's  power  and 
grace,  that  generation  remained  faithful  to  him  even  after  their 
great  leader  passed  away;  cf.  v.^°.  —  8.=  Jos.  24^.  The  begin- 
ning of  the  verse  in  Jos.,  afid  afer  these  things,  i.e.,  after  Joshua 


*  Cf.  Stud.,  Havernick,  Einl.,  ii.  i.  p.  79.  f  Be.  %  Ba. 

F 


66  JUDGES 

had  delivered  his  farewell  address  and  the  people  had  entered 
upon  the  possession  of  their  allotments,  may  be  part  of  the  origi- 
nal text,  but  is  not  indispensable.  — T/te  servant  of  Yahweh~\  of 
Joshua,  perhaps  the  addition  of  an  editor;*  Dt.  34^  Jos.  i^  and 
often  of  Moses,  see  Dillmann  on  Dt.  /.  c. — A  hutidred  and  ten 
years  o/d^  the  age  of  his  ancestor  Joseph,  Gen,  50"-^  (E). — 
9.  =  Jos.  24^". — They  buried  him  within  the  boimds  of  his  estate'] 
on  the  lands  which  were  allotted  to  him  (Jos.  19^^^)  ;  not."  on  the 
boundary,"  &c. — Timnath-heres]  Jos.  2/^^  \(f^  Timnath-serah, 
probably  a  metathesis  to  get  rid  of  a  name  of  heathenish  sound ; 
see  note.  Timnath  is  the  modern  Tibneh,  NW.  of  Gifna  (Gophna) 
on  the  road  to  the  coast.  On  the  northern  side  of  the  hill  which 
lies  over  against  the  town  to  the  south  are  remarkable  tombs, 
in  one  of  which  Gu^rin  would  recognize  the  burial  place  of 
Joshua.t  Samaritan,  Jewish,  and  Moslem  tradition  in  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  fixed  on  a  site  nearer  Nabulus  (Shechem),  at  Kefr 
Harith  or  at  'Awerteh.  $  —  The  Highlands  of  Ephraini\  see  on  3-'. 
—  North  of  Mt.  Gaash]  cf.  "  the  Wadies  of  Gaash,"  2  S.  23'*'  = 
I  Chr.  1 1'*^" ;  there  is  no  other  clue  by  which  to  fix  the  location. 
— 10.  All  that  generation]  the  contemporaries  of  Joshua ;  see 
above  on  V.''.  —  Were  gathered  to  their  fathers]  2  K.  22-^;  com- 
pare the  equivalent  expressions,  be  gathered  to  his  people,  go  to 
his  fathers,  sleep  with  his  fathers.  The  original  reference  is  to 
the  family  sepulchre,  in  which,  as  in  a  common  abode,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family  dwell  together,  and  perpetuate  in  that  shadowy 
existence  the  relations  of  the  former  life.  By  a  natural  extension 
the  phrases  are  applied  also  to  the  nether  world,  in  which,  by 
their  clans,  and  tribes,  and  nations,  all  the  dead  dwell.  In  later 
times  they  are  only  a  euphemistic  circumlocution  for  death.  §  — 
Another  generatioji]  Joel,  i'^ ;  the  defection  began  with  the  next 


*  S>  in  Jud.  ii  also. 

t  On  Tibneh  see  Eli  Smith  in  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  1843,  p.  483  ff. ;  De  Saulcy, 
Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte,  ii.  p.  238  ff.,  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  ii.  p.  89-104;  PEF.  State- 
ments, 1873,  p.  145,  1878,  p.  22  f.;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  299  f.,  374-378. 

t  Kefr  Harith,  about  9  m.  SW.  of  Nabulus,  is  accepted  by  Conder  {SWP.  Me- 
moirs, ii.  p.  284  f. ;  PEF.  Statements,  1878,  p.  22  f.)  and  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geogr. 
of  the  Holy  Land,  1894,  p.  351,  n.  3. 

§  See  Bottcher,  De  {nferis,  p.  54  ff. ;  Schwally,  Leben  nach  dem  Tode,  p.  54  ff. ; 
Moore,  in  Andover  Review,  ii.  1884,  p.  433  ff.,  516-518  (literature). 


II.  8-IO  6/ 

generation  after  the  invasion.  —  Who  did  not  hiow  Yahweh  and 
the  woi'k  which  he  wi-oiight  for  Israel~\  see  on  v.'  Jos.  24*^.  Not 
wouhi  not  acknowledge  Yahweh  (Ex.  5^  i  S.  2^"),  but,  did  not,  by 
personal  experience,  know  him  as  DeHverer,  Leader,  Conqueror 
(cf.  Dt.  11^^  13^,  &c.)  ;  they  had  not  shared  those  wonderful  ex- 
periences which  had  been  to  their  fathers  tihe  proof  of  Yahweh's 
power  and  his  jealous  love  for  Israel,  and  made  it  inconceivable 
that  they  should  turn  from  him  to  other  gods ;  cf.  Ex.  i^* 

6.  This  seems  more  probable  than  the  alternative  hypothesis,  that,  after 
the  insertion  of  Jud.  1^-2^,  the  close  of  Jos.  24  was  repeated  in  Jud.  2^^-  to 
resume  connexion.  That  the  text  in  Jos.  appears  in  some  points  more  origi- 
nal (nSsn  an^in  nnx  >n>T  V.29;  the  position  of  v.3i=:Jud.  2'^t)  is  not  con- 
clusive. —  That  the  events  narrated  in  2^-10  cannot  be  posterior  in  time  to 
v.i-^  was  recognized  by  older  commentators,  who  tried  to  get  over  the  difficulty 
by  exegetical  artifices.  Schm.  connects :  Caeterum  quomodo,  quae  Angelus 
Jehovae  praedixit,  impleta  fuerint,  ex  his  sequentibus  apparebit :  Postquam 
dimisit  Josua,  etc.  The  structure  of  the  following  verses  is  suspended;  the 
apodosis  begins  in  v.^^,  Tum  vero  fecerunt  filii  Israelis  malum,  etc.  Similarly 
Ba. :  What  is  narrated  in  v.^-i^a  is  to  be  regarded  as  virtually  in  the  pluper- 
fect; v.iob.  11  connects  with  and  continues  v.^.  Cf  also  Ra.,  Ki.,  Abarb.  —  9. 
Din  njDn]  probably  Portion  (sacred  territory)  of  the  Sun;  cf.  Har-heres  (i^; 
see  note  there),  Beth-shemesh,  &c.  In  Jos.  (24^'^  19^'^)  nno  njnn,  and  so 
IL^  here.  This  is  not  the  true  name  of  the  place  (Stud.,  Ges.  Thes.,  X  Be.,  al.), 
for  which  Din  njDn  Jud.  2^  is  transcriptional  error;  neither  are  Din  and  nno 
from  the  same  root  by  metathesis,  like  tr'JD,  ^i:*:)  (Ki.,  Abarb.,  Schm.),  or  from 
different  roots  of  the  same  meaning  (Ba.) ;  but  Din  'n  is  the  original,  and  'n 
niD  is  prob.  not  accidental  error  but  intentional  mutilation  of  a  name  which 
savoured  of  idolatry  (Juynboll,  Chron.  Samar.,  p.  295).  §  There  are  numerous 
examples  of  similar  procedure;  cf.  esp.  Is.  ig^^,  where  for  the  same  reason 
Din  has  been  altered  to  Din,  or,  in  a  few  manuscripts,  to  Din.  The  latter 
reading  is  found  in  some  codd.  and  ed.  Soncino  in  Jud.  2^.  Possibly  dafjLvaaa- 
Xap  (3  Jos.  24^0  (21*''  Jud.  2^'^°^^)  represents  another  transposition,  Cf.  also 
Bada  bathra  \'2i^'^,  Ra,  on  Jos.  24^*^  Jud.  2^.  —  At  the  beginning  of  our  era 
Thamna  was  the  chief  town  of  a  toparchy  which  lay  to  the  NE.  of  Lydda 
(Diospolis)  in  the  old  territory  of  Ephraim  (Fl.  Jos.,  b.  j.  iii,  3,  5;  Plin., 
n.  h.y  V.  70;   Euseb.,  OS"^.  21934  cf.  2603  23993  21191 1|).    Here  in  the  4th  cent. 

*  Noting  the  similarities  of  phraseology. 

t  In  C5  this  verse  stands  in  Jos.  in  the  same  position  as  in  Jud.,  immediately 
after  v.28  =  Jud,  26. 

J  Etymologizing,  without  warrant  in  usage,  portio  abundans  v.  redundans. 

\  Havernick  {Einl.  ii.  i,  p.  79)  considered  Din  'n  the  old  Canaanite,  niD  'n  the 
Israelite  name.  ||  See  also  Schiirer,  GjV.  ii.  p,  138  f. 


68  JUDGES 

the  tomb  of  Joshua  {eiriar]p.ov  .  .  .  i^vrnia)  was  shown  {OS'^.  26133  24603; 
Jerome,  ep.  loS,  13).  It  was  identified  with  the  modern  Tibneh  by  Eli 
Smith  in  1843  {Bibl.  Sacr.,  p.  483  f.).  Guerin,  in  1863,  was  convinced  that 
he  had  discovered  the  tomb  of  Joshua  in  the  most  western  of  the  rock  tombs 
over  against  the  town.  Many  niches  for  lamps  in  the  forechamber  prove  that 
it  was  once  a  frequented  shrine;  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  it  is  the  same 
that  was  shown  to  Christian  pilgrims  as  the  sepulchre  of  Joshua  in  the  4th 
century.  For  confirmation,  the  Abbe  Richard  in  1870  found  in  and  before  the 
tomb  flint  knives,  which  he  combined  with  Jos.  2^^  21*0  (g.  —  There  are  a 
number  of  other  places  bearing  the  name  Timnath :  one  in  the  hill  country  of 
Judah  (Jos.  15^^  prob.  also  Gen.  38^-^-)  J  another  the  scene  of  Samson's 
exploits  (Jud.  14.  15;  Jos.  15^'^  I9*^)-  The  name  Tibneh  is  also  found  east 
of  the  Jordan  in  "Aglun  (Tristram,  Land  of  Israel,  p.  458  ff.)-*  — 10. 
Vn^  N^  nw'N]  >n^  in  this  sense  freq.  in  Dt.,  e.g.  1 12  92  1 128  133. 7. 14  2833-  36. 64.  cf. 
Jer.  9I6,  &c.  (Di.,  NDJ.  p.  588). 

11-19.  The  defection  of  Israel ;  neither  punishment  nor  de- 
liverance works  amendment.  —  A  summary  of  the  whole  history. 
— 11-13.  The  defection.  Verse  "is  not  the  original  sequel  of 
v}^  (E),  which  is  rather  to  be  found  in  v.^^,  neither  is  it  in  place 
before  v.^^  (D),  which  it  anticipates;  probably,  therefore,  inserted 
by  the  editor  (R),  employing  motives  of  both  E  and  D.  —  The  Is- 
raelites did  what  displeased  Yahweh']  lit.  that  which  was  evil  in  his 
eyes.  Standing  formula  in  the  introduction  to  the  stories  of  the 
several  judges  (3''^^  4^  6^  10^  13^;  cf.  Dt.  4-^  9^^  \f  31"^),  and 
especially  in  the  judgements  passed  on  the  character  of  the  kings  of 
Israel  and  Judah  (i  K.  is^^-^^  16-^=^°  22^2  ^  ^  ^2^  ^^^  .  seldom 
in  Samuel  (i  S.  15*'"'  2  S.  12^  cf.  i  S.  12^*^),  which  was  never  sub- 
jected to  thorough  Deuteronomic  redaction.  The  evil  is  gener- 
ally, though  not  always,  an  offence  against  religion,  the  worship 
of  other  gods,  or  of  idols  of  Yahweh ;  see  the  exarhples  above. — 
Served  the  Baals~\  the  gods  of  the  Canaanites  among  whom  they 
lived  (3''''),  then,  in  general,  fell  into  heathenism;  see  further  on 
v.''\  — 12.  The  verse  shows  in  every  clause  its  filiation  with  the 
Deuteronomic  literature. — Forsook  Yahweh']  lo*'-^*^-^^,  and  often 
throughout  the  O.T.  —  God  of  their  fathers']  only  here  in  Jud. ; 
frequent  in  Dt.  (i^-^i  4^  6'^  12^  26^  2f  29^^  cf.  Ex.  3^-16^5  j^g^ 
1 81).  —  Who  brought  the f?i  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt]  the  great  de- 


♦  The  genitive,  very  likely  in  these  cases  also  originally  the  name  of  a  god,  has 
been  dropped. 


II.  II-I4  6g 

liverance  gave  him  a  right  to  their  allegiance.  It  stands  thus  as 
the  first  of  the  Ten  Words  (Ex.  20^  Dt.  5^'),  the  ground  of 
obligation  and  motive  of  obedience.  Unfaithfulness  has  the  base- 
ness of  ingratitvide  (Dt.  8^^^-  13^",  &c.).  —  Followed  other  go ds\ 
2^9  Dt.  8^9  1 1^8  132  28^^  Jer.  7^  ii^o  13^  and  freq.  — (9/  the  gods  of 
the  surrounding  nations^  Dt.  6"  13^^-.  —  Exasperated  Yahweh']  the 
verb  nowhere  else  in  Jud. ;  Dt.  4-^  9^^  31^  32^^;  freq.  in  Deutero- 
nomic  strata  of  Kings  and  in  Jer.  It  connotes  defiant  provocation  : 
superbe  peccaverunt,  nee  curaverunt,  si  maxime  Deus  indignaretur 
(Schm.).  — 13,  14.  Verse  ^^^  is  a  doublet  to  v}''J^  As  v.^-  clearly 
belongs  to  D,  v.^'^  may  be  ascribed  to  E  and  connected  immedi- 
ately with  v.^".  —  Forsook  Yahweh~\  see  on  v.^-* ;  cf  also  in  E,  Jos. 
24-*^  Dt.  3i^'^*-.  —  And  saciificed  to  Baal  and  Asta7'te~\  on  the  text 
see  critical  note.  The  Baals  and  Astartes,  i.e.  the  heathen  gods 
and  goddesses,  are  coupled  in  the  same  way  in  Jud.  10*^  i  S.  7^ 
1 2^*^ ;  t  cf.  Baals  and  Asheras,  Jud.  3^.  Baal  signifies  *  proprietor, 
possessor '  of  something,  and  requires  a  complement,  expressed  or 
implied,  thus  :  Baal-Sor,  the  Lord  of  Tyre  ;  Baal-Sidon,  Baal- Leba- 
non, Baal-Hermon,  also  Baal-Shamen,  the  Lord  of  the  Heavens  ;$ 
or  Baal-zebub,  Baal-berith,  &c.  It  is  not  a  proper  name ;  the  name 
of  the  Baal  of  Tyre,  e.g.,  was  Melqart ;  in  Israel  the  Baal  (Propri- 
etor) was  Yahweh  (Hos.  2^^,  Heb.  2^^).§  There  were  thus  innu- 
merable Baals,  some  of  them  having  proper  names  of  their  own, 
others  distinguished  only  by  the  place  where  they  were  wor- 
shipped, or  by  some  attribute.  In  any  religious  community  the 
god  to  which  it  belonged  would  ordinarily  be  spoken  of  merely  as 
the  Baal,  the  Lord,  further  definition  being  unnecessary  ;  but  there 
was  among  the  Canaanites  and  Phoenicians  no  one  god  named 
Baal.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  plural  is  sometimes  used  of  this 
multitude  of  local  deities ;  sometimes,  as  here,  the  singular,  for 
the  whole  genus  false  god  in  contrast  to  Yahweh.  ||  —  Astarte'] 


*  An  elaborate  exegetical  explanation  of  this  doublet  in  Abarb. 

t  Both  probably  E  (e). 

X  That  Baal  was  a  solar  diety  is,  however,  an  inveterate  error.  It  is  not  certain 
even  that  Baal-hamman  was  such ;  see  E.  Meyer,  in  Roscher,  i.  2870. 

^  Cf.  also  names  such  as  Eshbaal  (son  of  Saul),  Baaljada  (son  of  David  = 
Eljada),  and  even  Baaljah,  i.e.  Yahweh  is  Baal. 

I)  Cf.  Hos.  13I  Jer.  28,  esp.  iii3  Zeph.  i*.     See  Sta.,  ZA  TW.  vi.  p.  303  f 


70  JUDGES 

Phoen.  'Ashtart;  Heb.  'Ashtoreth*  One  of  the  most  widely 
worshipped  of  the  Semitic  divinities ;  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria 
as  Ishtar,  in  southern  Arabia  as  'Athtar,  in  Syria  as  'Athar.  From 
I  K.  11^-^  2  K.  23^'"^  it  might  appear  that  the  worship  of  Astarte 
was  specifically  Phoenician,  but  this  would  be  an  erroneous  infer- 
ence ;  it  was  evidently  common  through  all  Palestine,  east  and 
west  of  the  Jordan.  She  had  a  temple  among  the  Philistines 
(i  S.  31^°),  gave  her  name  to  a  city  in  Bashan,  Ashtaroth- 
karnaim  (Dt.  i"*  Gen.  14^),  and  appears  in  the  Moabite  stele  of 
King  Mesha  ('Ashtar-Kemosh,  1.  17).  Numerous  inscriptions 
from  Phoenicia  and  its  colonies  attest  the  wide  diffusion  and  im- 
portance of  her  cult,  which  was  early  introduced  into  Egypt  also. 
As  the  principal  female  deity  of  the  Canaanites,  the  name  of 
Astarte  is  used  in  the  O.T.  in  conjunction  with  Baal  as  a  quasi- 
appellative  for  goddess,  for  which  the  Hebrew  language  possesses 
no  proper  word.f 

11.  D"'':'>on]  the  plural  here  and  in  nnntj'y  v.i^  does  not  refer  to  the  many- 
images  of  the  gods  (Aug.,  quaest.  16,  Ki.,  Ges.,  Stud.,  al.),  nor  to  the  manifold 
local  forms  of  one  god  (Renan,  comparing  the  many  Virgins  of  Catholic 
lands,  X  Baethgen,  al.) ;  but  to  different  gods,  — 13.  nnnty];Si  h^i'i  n3)?M] 
the  incongruity  of  number  is  most  probably  to  be  removed  by  reading  ninB';;S 
sg.,  though  the  plural  is  supported  by  fH  and  verss.  It  would  make  no 
difference  in  the  sense  if  we  made  both  plur.  The  construction  of  the  verb 
presents  a  more  serious  difficulty;  S  nop  for  n^;?  with  accus.  is  unexampled;  § 
in  Jer.  44^  i^yS  (>  ©S>)  is  doublet  or  gloss  to  "ijapS.  This  corruption  suggests 
the  correction  for  our  verse;  I  conjecture  that  the  author  wrote  ■nDi'^M  burtit 
sacrifices  (Jer.  7^  nis.  17  and  often,  Hos.  ii^,  &c.).  which  was  altered,  by 
accidental  conformation  to  v.",  or  intentionally,  for  emphasis,  to  nai'ii.  On 
Baal  see  Baudissin,  PRE^.  ii.  p.  27-38,  where  the  older  literature  is  pretty 
fully  given  (p.  37  f);  Pietschmann,  Gesch.  d.  Phonizier,  p.  183  f.;  Baethgen, 
Beiirdge  zur  Se7nit.  Religionsgeschichte,  p.  17  ff.;  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of 
Semites,  Pt.  i.  p.  92  ff.,  and  art.  "  Baal "  in  Neiv  Diet,  of  the  Bible  ;  E.  Meyer, 
art.  "  Ba'al  "  in  Roscher,  Lexikon  der  Griechischen  und  R'dmischen  Mythologie, 
i.  2867-2880,    On  Astarte,  Baudissin,  PRE^.  i.  p.  719-725   (older  lit.,  p. 


*  With  malicious  substitution  of  the  vowels  of  bosheth. 

t  Similarly  in  Assyrian  (in  the  plural),  Hani  ti-ishtarati,  gods  and  goddesses; 
Schrader,  KA  'f^.  p.  i8o ;  Tiele,  Babylonisch-Assyr.  Geschichte,  p.  538.  In  the  treaty 
of  Ramses  II.  with  the  Hittites  we  read  of  the  "  'Astart  of  the  Hittite  country,"  just 
as  of  the  Suth  of  Heta ;  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  330. 

X  As  Aug.  had  the  many  Junos. 

^  In  I  S.  4"  the  meaning,  '  be  subject  to,'  is  different. 


IT.  14-16  71 

725);  Pietschmann,  op.  cit.;  Baethgen,  Beitrdge,  p.  31  ff.;  Barton,  **  Ashto- 
reth  and  her  Influence  in  the  O.T.,"  JBL.  x.  p.  73  ff.;  E.  Meyer,  art,  "As- 
tarte,"  in  Roscher,  i.  645-655.  A  satisfactory  etymology  and  explanation  of 
the  name  mntr;;  has  not  yet  been  given ;  see  Lexx.  The  fern,  ending  seems 
to  be  distinctly  Canaanite  (Phoenician,  Hittite). 

14,  15.  The  punishment.  — 14.  The  two  halves  of  the  verse 
are  obviously  doublets  ;  v.*^  is  probably  the  continuation  of  v.^\E), 
v.^  its  counterpart  in  D. — Yahweh  was  incensed  against  Israel^ 
yP  3^  lo^  cf.  d^ ;  a  common  phrase.  —  He  gave  them  into  the 
power  of  pillage  rs'\  a  somewhat  unusual  word;  v.'*'  i  S.  14'**^  2  K. 
1 7-"  Is.  10^^ ;  see  note.  — He  sold  them  into  the  power  of  the  ene- 
mies who  stirrounded  the??i^  parallel  to  the  preceding  (v.*^),  in  dif- 
ferent terms ;  3^  4^  10''  cf.  4^  Dt.  32'^*^  i  S.  12^  Ez.  30^^  Is.  50^ ;  for 
the  last  clause  see  S'^l  The  punishment  is  inflicted  by  the  hand 
of  the  same  surrounding  nations  for  whose  religion  they  had  for- 
saken their  own  (v.^) .  The  words  may  have  originally  followed 
immediately  after  v.^,  "they  exasperated  Yahweh." —  They  were 
no  more  able  to  stand  before  their  ene?nies~\  Jos.  7^^  cf.  Lev.  26'^*'* 
Nu.  14*-"^^.  — 15.  In  evejj  campaign'^  lit.  wherever  they  went  out 
(to  war)  ;  see  note.  Others,  in  every  undertaking,  in  omni  nego- 
tio,  propter  quod  exiverunt.*  —  The  hand  of  Yahweh,  6^<r.]  Dt.  2^. 
—  As  Yahweh  had  threatened~\  the  reference  is  not  to  any  single 
passage  expressly  containing  this  threat,!  but  to  the  whole  tenor 
of  such  chapters  as  Dt.  28  (cf.  esp.  v.-^-^''-^'*-^^-)  and  Lev.  26  (esp. 
y  17. 36-39 -J  ;  cf.  Is.  30^^  —  And  they  were  in  great  straits']  Gen.  32^ 
2  S.  13I 

16-19.  Not  even  the  judg^es  whom  Yahweh  from  time  to  time 
raises  up  to  deliver  them  are  able  to  reclaim  them  from  their 
evil  ways.  —  Verses  ^^-  ^'^  and  v.^^-  ^^  are  entirely  parallel ;  v.^^  with 
its  sequel  v.^''  is  by  the  same  hand  as  v.^^^  (E)  ;  v.'^-^^  correspond 
in  D  and  connect  with  v.^^^.  — 16.  Judges']  the  judges  of  this 
book  are  the  champions  and  leaders  of  Israel  in  its  conflicts  with 
its  enemies  and  oppressors.  The  name  is  synonymous  with  deliv- 
erer (v.^"-^^  2^.15.31^ ,  ggg  j^^^|-g  Qj^  ^10^  —  Delivered  them  from  those 
that  pillaged  them]  v."".  It  is  possible  that  some  such  words  as 
"  And  the  Israelites  cried  unto  Yahweh  "  (3^^)  have  been  dis- 

*  Schm.;  similarly  Ba.        f  Certainly  not  Jos.  23I3  Jud.  2I-3  (Schm.,  Ba.). 


72  JUDGES 

placed  by  v."*'-^\  — 17.  Continues  the  preceding.*  Even  their 
deliverers  had  no  influence  over  them.  —  They  apostatized  to 
other  gods\  lit.  went  whoring  after  other  gods,  8-'- ^  (Gideon's 
ephod)  Ex.  34^^-^^  Dt.  31^"  cf.  Lev.  if  20^-^.  They  deserted 
Yahweh,  their  own  god,  and  gave  themselves  up,  body  and  soul, 
to  other  gods.  ■  The  figure  suggests  both  the  sin  of  unfaithfulness 
and  the  shame  of  prostitution.  It  is  very  common  in  the  Ht- 
erature  of  the  7th  century,  and  probably  originated  with  Hosea, 
whose  own  bitter  experience  with  his  adulterous  wife  became  for 
him  the  type  of  the  relations  of  Yahweh  and  Israel  (Hos.  1-3 
cf.  9\  &c.).t —  They  soon  turned  aside,  &-C.']  Ex.  32^  Dt.  q^--^^  ii"^ 
2i-'9.  —  Their  fathers,  the  generation  of  Joshua  (v.^°--  cf.  v.''), 
walked  in  obedience  to  God's  commands ;  their  descendants  did 
not  follow  their  example.  — 18.  Parallel  to  v.^^  (see  above)  ;  ob- 
serve enemies,  as  in  v."*",  in  contrast  to  pillagers,  v.^^^-^^  —  Yahweh 
was  with  the  Judge']  cf.  Jos.  i^.  —  For  Yahweh  was  moved  to  pity 
by  their  groaning]  motive  of  the  deliverance,  v.^.  Not  repented, 
i.e,  changed  his  mind  and  gave  up  his  purpose  to  punish  them. 
—  Tyrants  and  oppressors]  the  words  are  synonymous;  see  note. 
— 19.  Counterpart  of  v.^^  with  a  slight  difference  of  representa- 
tion ;  in  v.^'  they  pay  no  heed  to  the  efforts  of  the  judges  to  re- 
strain them  from  their  apostasy ;  \  in  v.^^  it  is  implied  that  their 
propensity  to  heathenism  was  held  in  check  during  the  life  of  the 
judge  only  to  break  out  the  more  violently  at  his  death.  —  At  the 
death  of  the  judge  they  would  relapse]  the  tenses  express  what 
happened  over  and  over  again  with  the  regularity  of  law.  This  is 
the  conception  of  the  history  which  dominates  the  Deuteronomic 
setting  of  the  stories  of  the  judges ;  see  4^  8^,  ^o..  — Worse  than 
their  fathers]  Jer.  f'  16^.  Not  the  godly  fathers  of  v.^^-^^^^, 
but  the  generations  which  preceded  them,  and  had  sinned  in  the 
same  way  under  former  judges  ;  each  was  worse  than  the  last.  — 
In  rujuiing  after  other  gods]  they  went  to  still  greater  lengths  in 
the  evil  way  on  which  their  ancestors  had  entered  (v.^-). —  They 
did  not  drop  any  of  their  practices  or  of  their  obstinacy]  lit.  stub- 

*  Bu.,  Kue.,  regard  v."  as  a  late  interpolation  ;  see  note  below. 
t  See  Smend,  AUtestamentliche  Religionsgeschichte,  p.  i88  ff. 
X  As  Israel  in  later  times  gave  no  heed  to  the  warnings  and  expostulations  of 
the  prophets. 


II.  17-20  73 

born  way;   viz.,  those  of  their  predecessors.    The   collocation 
"practices  and  way  "  (or  ways)  is  frequent  in  Jer.,  e.g.  4^^  f-^  i8^^ 

14.  onix  iDt'"!  D^Db'  n^n]  the  punctuation  distinguishes,  without  difference 
of  meaning,  no::'  v.i^  i  S.  14^8  23I  2  K.  1720  &c.  from  DD:i'  i  S.  17*^3  Is.  13I6J 
cf.  HDo  and  DDD,  nm  and  nan.  Syn.  of  n3  Is.  17I*  42^^  Jer.  301*5,  'plunder, 
pillage.'  The  word  seems  to  have  been  borrowed  by  the  Egyptians  as  a 
designation  for  the  nomadic  robber-tribes  of  the  desert  south  of  Palestine 
(sa-su,  sa-sa,  pxon.sos);  see  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,^.  131  f. — 
15.  INX""  iis\s*  Sd3]  qtcocumqtie  egrederentur ;  i.e.,  quamcumque  expeditionem 
aggrederentur  (Cler.);  so  rightly  Ki.,  cf.  Jos.  i^-^  2  K.  18^.  NX"',  'march  out 
to  war,'  make  a  foray  (11^),  campaign  (2  S.  ii^  Am.  5^  Dt.  28''  and  often); 
see  Lex.  — 16.  Diyt^'Vi]  sc.  the  judges:  (S  koX  eauaeu  airoi/s  Kvpios.  — 17. 
Bu.  {Richt,  u.  Satn.,  p.  92)  and  Kue.  regard  v.^'^  as  an  interpolation,  inter- 
rupting the  connexion  between  \.^^  and  v.  1^,  introducing  a  new  motive, 
disobedience  to  the  judges,  and  in  expression  varying  from  the  Deut.  pattern. 
If  the  analysis  proposed  above  be  sound,  v.^'^  is  the  sequel  of  v.^^,  while  v.i^ 
connects  immediately  with  v.^^.  The  last  two  clauses  of  v.i^  hang  somewhat 
awkwardly,  and  may,  if  any  one  chooses,  be  ascribed  to  R;  there  is  no  reason 
for  attributing  the  whole  verse  to  him.  —  inD  no]  the  inf.  abs.  in  adverbial 
accusative,  cf.  v.^^  Ex.  32^  Dt.  7*  &c.,  Ew.  §  280  c.  — 18.  n\ni  ,  .  .  -ji  v-i  □>|-)n  131 
tDDcn  oy  ^"'']  pf.  .  .  .  pf.  consec;  recurring  event  in  past  time,  Job  i^  Jud.  6^ 
Gen.  38^  (on);  13  8^  Hos.  ii^.  —  2ri|'^5<jD]  jd  of  the  origin  of  his  emotion,  its 
cause.  — Dn>pmi  Dn>:^n'?]  yrh  i^i  48  6^  '1012  Ex.  3^  i  S.  lo^s  2  K.  134-22  Am.  61* 
&c.  pm  Joel  2^^;  common  in  Aram.;  in  lEM  the  usual  equivalent  of  Heb. 
yrh.  — 19.  intntrni  ia^'^]  impf.  frequentative;  Hiphil  of  conduct,  behave  badly. 
—  onS  mnnt^'nSi  onn^'S  .  .  .  'Ji  hd^S]  the  first  gerundial  inf.  (see  on  v.22)  specifies 
the  particular  in  which  they  behaved  worse  than  their  fathers;  the  following 
inff.  ('J1  D"\3>'S)  are  a  species  of  explicative  apposition  to  T\i-h,  showing 
wherein  the  following  of  other  gods  consisted  (Schm.  well,  serviendo  illis,  et 
incurvando  se  illis),  not  the  motive  of  the  Israelites  (Jo  serve  thevi).  —  nS 
on^SS^jDD  iSisn]  p  of  partitive  object;  cf.  i  S.  31^  Est.  6I''.  Others  render, 
did  not  desist  from  their  practices,  &c.,  giving  the  Hiph.  an  internally  transi- 
tive force  for  which  there  seems  to  be  no  example  or  necessity.  uhh^^'Q  in  bad 
sense.  Is.  3^  Jer.  ii^^  &c. 

20,  21.  The  penalty  of  Israel's  persistent  defection ;  Yahweh 
will  not  drive  out  any  more  of  the  nations  which  remained  un- 
conquered  at  the  death  of  Joshua.  —  Cf.  v.-*"-.  The  verses  are 
with  much  probability  ascribed  by  Budde  to  E ;  *  but  in  con- 
formity with  our  analysis  of  the  preceding  we  should  connect 
them  with  v.-^^^-,  rather  than  with  v.^^  as  he  does.  —  20.    Inasmuch 

*  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  158  f. 


74  JUDGES 

as  this  people  have  transgressed  the  injunction  I  laid  upon  their 
fathers'^  Jos.  7^^  (E).  RV.  lit.,  my  covenant  which  I  commanded 
their  fathers.  The  verbs  (transgress,  enjoin)  show  that  berith, 
rendered  in  our  versions  with  mechanical  uniformity  covetiant,  is 
not  here  conceived  of  as  a  mutual  compact  or  agreement,  but 
as  an  ordinance  of  Yahweh,  a  rule  prescribed  by  him.  In  general, 
in  the  older  literature,*  berith,  in  its  religious  use,  is  a  formal  act 
by  which  the  relations  between  Yahweh  and  his  people  are  regu- 
lated, or  the  relation  thus  regulated.  Its  author  is  God  alone; 
man's  part  is  only  to  accept  it.  In  speaking  of  it,  according  to 
circumstances,  the  thought  may  rest  chiefly,  or  even .  exclusively, 
on  one  or  the  other  of  its  two  sides ;  on  the  solemn  promise  and 
pledge  of  his  favour  which  Yahweh  has  freely  given,  or  on  the 
character  and  conduct  which  he  requires,  which  are  in  effect  the 
terms  of  friendly  intercourse  with  him  and  the  enjoyment  of  his 
blessings.  In  the  former  case  it  becomes,  as  in  v.^,  almost  equiv- 
alent to  promise ;  in  the  latter,  to  commandment,  injunction^  as 
here,  so  that  it  may  stand  in  paralleUsm  to  law  {torah),  as  in 
Hos.  8\t  The  commandment  given  to  the  fathers  was,  that  they 
should  worship  Yahweh  alone;  cf.  Ex.  7,^-'^^  23-^^- ^^•.  —  21.  /,  on 
my  part,  will  not  drive  out,  cr'c.']  ;  by  their  violation  of  his  injunc- 
tion they  have  forfeited  the  promise  that  accompanied  it  and  was 
virtually  conditional  upon  their  fidelity  (Ex.  34^^  23-^-''-^^). —  A 
single  man  of  the  stations  that  Joshua  left  when  he  died~\  cf.  Jos. 
23^-'f-  Jud.  22f-  10I3. 

20.  r\\7\  >ijn]  MJ  seldom  of  Israel;  Ex.  19^  33!^  Jos.  3^'^  4^  Zeph.  2^  (parallel 
to  d;',  which  is  the  usual  word)  Is.  i*.  Possibly  the  word  is  chosen  for  this 
reason;  nr  itself  sometimes  has  a  tone  of  alienation  like  iste ;  cf.  Is.  6^  S^^.  — 
T\^'y:i\  apparently  only  in  Hebrew.  The  older  etymological  theory  is  well 
represented  by  Simonis :  %  foedus  ...  sic  dicitur  a  dissectione  animalium,  in 
pangendis  foederibus  usitata;  similarly  J.  D.  Mich.,  Ges.  Thes.,  and  many; 
most  recently  Konig,  Ilauptprobleiiie  der  altisraelit.  Religionsgeschichte,  p.  85 
=  Religious  Hist,  of  Israel,  p.  152.  Others  suppose  a  development  like  that 
in  decider e,  decisio  ;  scheiden,  entscheiden,  &c.;   so  E.  Meier,  Wurzelwb.,  1845, 

•  J  E  and  D  in  the  Hexateuch,  and  the  cognate  strata  in  the  historical  books. 

t  Sec  J.  J.  P.  Valcton,  Jr.,  "  Das  Wort  nna  in  den  jehovistischen  und  deutero- 
nomistischen  Stiicken  dcs  Hexateuchs,"  ZATW.  xii.  p.  224-260;  cf.  ib.  p.  1-22  (in 
the  Priestly  Law) ;  Smend,  Alttest.  Religionsgeschichte,  p.  294  ff. 

X  Cf.  Castell,  Lex.  Heptaglott.,  s.  v. 


II.    20-22  75 

p.  514,  MV.,  al.  The  assumed  primary  meaning,  however  (nn^  *  cut '),  is  facti- 
tious. Fr.  Delitzsch,  Hebrew  and  Assyrian,  compares  Assyr,  baru,  '  decide.' 
See  Brown,  Hebrew  Lexicon,  s.  v.  —  In  O.T.  usage  the  notion  of  agreement  is 
manifestly  prior  to  that  of  either  command  or  promise,  and  probably  this 
reflects  the  older  history  of  the  word.  For  the  free  nomadic  Semite,  all  right 
which  did  not  exist  by  nature  in  the  bond  of  blood  originated  in  compact; 
We.,  Proleg.;^  p.  443  f.,  Engl,  transl.  p.  418  f.;  H.  Schultz,  Alttest.  7'heol.,^ 
401  ff.  =  Old  Test.  TheoL,  ii.  p.  2  ff.  —  r>-i2  la;;]  Dt.  172  Jos.  7I1  23I6  2  K.  iS^^; 
of.  -ion  v.i  Dt.  3ii6-  20^  r\y:;  Dt.  4^3,  ary  Dt.  2924,  dnd  2  K.  if=  (Valeton,  ZA  TW. 
xii.  p.  235).  —  ms]  with  nna  Jos.  7"  23I6  i  K.  iiii. — 21.  j7irin>  3tj;  ncN] 
unusual  use  of  3T>';  cf.  2  S.  151^.  —  ^\'D>^\  which  Joshua  left  and  died.  <5  has 
instead,  /cat  d<p7JK€v  (subj.  Yahweh)  =  njM,  as  principal  verb  of  the  next  sen- 
tence;  perhaps  neither  is  original. 

22-III.  6.  —  Motives  of  Yahweh  in  leaving  these  nations; 
enumeration  of  them ;    consequences  to    Israel.  —  22.    Cf.  3^ 

Verse  ^-^  has  a  distinctly  Deuteronomic  colour ;  v.-^*  is  ascribed 
by  Budde,  not  without  some  hesitation,  to  E.*  But  the  connex- 
ion with  v.^\  as  the  history  of  interpretation  shows,  is  loose  and 
ambiguous ;  and  the  motive  for  leaving  the  nations,  to  try  Israel, 
is  not  easily  reconciled  with  v.-*^^-,  where  they  are  left  as  a  punish- 
ment for  Israel's  confirmed  unfaithfulness.  It  seems  more  proba- 
ble, therefore,  that  v."  is  altogether  by  a  different  hand  from  v.-'^-, 
presumably  that  of  an  editor.  —  In  order  to  prove  Israel  by  them] 
cf.  3^'^-^.  Assuming  the  unity  of  the  context,  interpreters  have 
been  divided  in  opinion  whether  the  clause  is  a  continuation  of 
the  words  of  Yahweh  in  v.-\  that  by  them  I  viay  prove  Israelj\  or 
the  writer's  explanation  of  God's  purpose,  that  he  might  prove 
Israel.  %  The  latter  is  the  more  probable  construction,  and  if  the 
verse  be  the  addition  of  an  editor  the  only  natural  one.  The 
object  of  the  trial  is  to  know  whether  Israel,  thus  exposed  to  close 
and  constant  contact  with  heathenism,  will  remain  faithful  to  its 
own  religion.  §  —  Keep  the  way  of  Yahweh]  observe  the  institutions 
and  ordinances  of  his  religion.  Gen.  18^^  Dt.  5"^  Jer.  5^-^;  often 
in  plural,  ways  of  Y.,  Dt.  10^-  11^^  &c.,  which  was  probably  the 
original  reading  here  (see  note) .  Compare  the  equivalent  terms 
of  3^     The  phrase  expresses  more  nearly  than  any  other  in  the 

*  I^ickt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  159.        f  IL,  Lth.,  Schm.,  RV.,  al.  +  Aug.,  Stud.,  Ba.,  al. 

§  On  the  theological  questions  which  this  temptation  or  probation  suggests,  see 
Aug.,  ^u.  17;  Greg.  Magn.,  Dia/.,  in.  c.  14  jin.;  a  Lapide,  in  loc;  Schm.,  qu.  12. 


76  JUDGES 

"O.T.  what  we  call  religion,  from  the  external  point  of  view,  as 
the  fear  of  Yahwsh  does  the  inner  side  of  religion  ;  compare  the 
use  of  ol6^,  Acts  i8^-^^  9-  &c.  — As  their  fathers  did~\  2\ 

22.  P1DJ  lynS]  Dt.  %-■  ^^  cf.  rojS  Jud.  3!-  4.  At  this  distance  from  the 
principal  verb,  the  writer  would  probably  have  expressed  ut  experiar  by  the 
personal  construction  npjN  ]j;j:^,  avoiding  all  ambiguity.  —  D3  nDVs  mm  Tn] 
for  D3  SFS  give  a  sing.;  Houbig.  and  Doom,  emend  n^.  More  probably, 
however,  the  author  wrote  nin>  ^s^\'^  (masc,  plur.),  from  which  the  present  text 
arose  by  accident.  The  plur.  D2  in  ilH  is  explained  of  the  many  command- 
ments, statutes,  and  ordinances  which  constitute  the  xvay  of  Y.  —  ddSS]  gerun- 
dial,  v.1'19  I  S.  1217  1433  2  S.  3I0  Jer.  447-8;   Ges.^s  §  114,  n.  4;   Dr.3  §  205. 

23.  Verse  ^%  with  3^,  clearly  belongs  to  a  different  circle  of  ideas 
from  2^'-  or  2^  3'*.  In  2^^  3-  Yahweh  does  not  drive  out  the  peo- 
ple of  Canaan  at  once,  in  order  that  the  succeeding  generatipns  of 
Israelites  also  may  have  experience  of  war.  This  explanation  ac- 
cords well  with  J's  point  of  view,  and  to  that  writer  the  verses  are 
with  considerable  probability  ascribed  by  E.  Meyer.^  Verse  "^^ 
may  perhaps  be  an  editorial  addition,  connecting  the  statement  of 
v.^''  with  the  time  before  Joshua's  death  (v.^^)  ;  it  is  possible,  how- 
ever, that  the  editor  has  only  substituted  the  name  Joshua  for  an 
original  Israel.  —  Yahweh  left  these  nations^  thd  reference  is  obvi- 
ously to  nations  of  which  the  writer  had  already  spoken,  not  to  the 
list  below  in  3^.  If  our  analysis  be  substantially  correct,  we  shall 
most  naturally  think  of  ch.  1,  in  the  fuller  form  in  which  it  once 
existed,  in  which,  as  appears  from  v.^*^,  not  only  the  cities  within 
their  own  borders  which  Israel  did  not  conquer  were  named,  but 
the  boundaries  of  the  surrounding  nations.  —  Not  expelli7ig  them 
at  once']  cf.  Ex.  23^-  Dt.  f'^-,  which  differ  materially,  however,  in 
conception  and  expression.  The  reason  for  the  gradual  expulsion 
is  given  in  3^.  —  Did  not  give  them  into  the  poiuer  of  Joshua]  the 
commentators  have  found  it  very  hard  to  explain  how  this  could 
be  a  punishment  for  the  defection  of  Israel  after  the  death  of 
Joshua,  as  in  the  present  connexion  it  must  be ;  quas  nimirum 
non  dederat  in  manum  Josuae,t  is  what  the  connexion  impera- 
tively requires,  but  this  cannot  be  extorted  from  the  Hebrew  text. 
—  III.  1.  Verse  ^'^  is  the  introduction  to  the  catalogue  v.^;  v.^^  is 


*  See  above,  p.  64  and  n.  ^  Schm.,  cf.  Abarb. 


n.  22-in.  2  77 

a  doublet  to  v.^''.  —  To  try  Isi'ael  by  them~\  it  was  a  disciplinary 
judgement;  cf.  Dt.  8--^".  This  sense  would  be  possible  in  the 
assumed  context  of  E  (2-°-^  3^^-^)  ;  perhaps,  however,  the  words 
were  added  by  the  redactor ;  cf.  2"  3'*.  —  Namely  all  those  who 
had  no  expeiience  of  all  the  wars  of  Canaan']  the  generation  fol- 
lowing the  invasion ;  corresponding  to  those  who  knew  not  Yah- 
weh  and  the  great  things  he  did  for  Israel  (2^°  cf.  2').  The  words 
are  difficult  and  inappropriate  in  their  present  connexion;  they 
may  be  either  an  editorial  addition  derived  from  v.-^,  or,  more 
probably,  a  gloss  to  v.-''  intruded  into  the  text  in  the  wrong  place.* 
—  2.  The  original  sequel  of  2-^'.t  The  text  is  clearly  corrupt;  the 
restoration  is  somewhat  uncertain.  The  most  conservative  course 
is  to  follow  (3 ;  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  successive  generations 
of  Israelites,  to  familiarize  thetn  ivith  war.  A  bolder  reconstruc- 
tion would  be,  merely  in  order  that  the  Israelites  might  have  expe- 
rience of  war.  The  sense  is  not  materially  different.  IL  well,  ut 
postea  discerent  filii  eorum  certare  cum  hostibus,  et  habere  con- 
suetudinem  praeliandi.  The  incompleteness  of  the  conquest  is 
not  attributed  to  the  sinful  slackness  of  Israel  (2^'^),  nor  is  it 
designed  as  a  trial  of  Israel's  fidehty  to  its  religion  (2"  3^),  nor 
a  punishment  for  its  persistent  infidehty  (2^"^-);  it  is  a  wise 
appointment  of  Yahweh,  that  his  people,  from  generation  to 
generation,  may  have  occasion  to  cultivate  the  virtues  which  only 
war  develops,  and  learn  by  experience  the  superiority  of  their 
god  to  those  of  the  heathen.  —  Only  those  who  had  not  known 
them  before]  the  generation  of  the  invasion  had  had  this  training 
and  experience;  it  is  their  descendants  who  are  meant  in  v.''. 
The  half  verse  is  superfluous  and  may  be  secondary;  v.^''  is  a 
doublet  to  it. 

23.  □iJ'mn  TiSnS]  the  proper  negative  of  the  inf.  (8^) ;  here  in  gerundial 
use  (see  on  v. 22  above),  as  in  Jos.  23*^  -Ji  "^ID  vnSjS^  not  turning.  —  III.  1.  n-'S 
mn'*  n>jn]  ©^vlm  g'l-^^roOs;  conformation  to  2^1.  —  Sni^'"'  TvS  d2  mojS]  S.  a.<SKri- 
(rai  .  .  .  Kal  didd^at  tov  iroXefJiov  ttjv  t^x"^"  (Thdt.,  ^u.  8).  —  2.  nm  nyn  JPd'? 
Ss-ir^  ^J3]  the  subject  of  the  inf.  cannot  be  Yahweh  as  in  v.*,  tkat  he  might 
knozv  the  generations  (Schror,,  Be.,  Ke.,  Reuss),  expressing  the  motive  of 


*  Stud. 

t  That  32  is  not  consonant  with  its  present  context  is  observed  by  Ziegler,  who 
regards  it  as  an  interpolation. 


78  JUDGES 

putting  them  to  the  trial  (v.^);  for  theri  we  can  make  nothing  of  the  rest 
of  the  sentence.*  As  the  text  stands  it  must  be  rendered,  in  order  that  the 
generations  of  the  Israelites  might  know  (SST,  Ra.,  Ki.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  Stud., 
Ba.,  Cass.,  and  most).  But  then  the  inf.  has  no  object,  or  rather  another 
verb  is  interposed,  hdhSd  didSS,  —  to  teach  them  —  'war.'\  The  whole  sen- 
tence, though  intelligible,  is  overloaded  and  clumsy.  (5  omits  the  first  inf., 
nyn*?,  which  relieves  the  worst  of  the  difficulty.  %  It  is  more  satisfactory, 
though  bolder,  to  treat  nm  as  corrupt  doublet  of  r;j-(,  and  DncSS  as  a  gloss  to 
the  latter,  or  substitute  for  it;  with  the  structure  cf.  Jos.  4^*,  icy  Vj  n>'i  ]yii±' 
-ji  in^i-  Cler.  compares  Livy,  xxxix.  i.  —  uy;-\'^  n'?  □"'jrj'?  n^^N]  the  pi.  masc. 
suff.  referring  to  ncn'^D  is  intolerable;  the  writer  or  scribe  very  likely  had  in 
mind  the  y;iD  mcnSn  of  v.^*';  the  discord  in  gender  is  not  so  unusual.  The 
half  verse  is  not  improbably  an  editorial  restriction  like  v?^;  observe  the  over 
emphatic  use  of  pn  as  well  as  the  false  concord  just  noted.  —  pn]  restrictive 
particle,  with  nouns  (i  S.  i^^  Am.  3^),  verbs  (Jud.  14^''),  and  particles 
(2  K.  21^).  It  does  not  always  limit  the  next  following  word,  but  often 
stands  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence,  limiting  the  emphatic  word  in  it, 

which  has  not,  however,  as  in  Arab,  after  M^^>  a  fixed  position  in  the 
sentence. 

3,  4.  The  peoples  which  Yahweh  left  within  the  bounds  of 
Palestine  to  try  the  faith  and  obedience  of  Israel.  —  The  intro- 
duction to  these  verses  seems  to  be  3'%  these  are  the  ?iafio?is  which 
Yahweh  left.  The  verses  accord  better  with  the  representation  of 
E  (or  D)  than  of  J j  to  which  source  v.^  is  attributed  by  Meyer 
and  Budde ;  see  above,  p.  64.  With  the  catalogue  compare  Jos. 
132-6.  —  The  five  tyrants  of  the  Philistines']  Jos.  13^  i  S.  6'^-^l  The 
five  are  Gaza,  Ashkelon,  Ashdod,  Gath,  Ekron.  The  word  ren- 
dered tyrant  {seren)  is  used  only  of  the  Philistines,  and  is  evi- 
dently the  native  name.  That  these  cities  were  not  conquered 
by  Israel  agrees  with  the  statement  in  i^  and  contradicts  i~^ ;  see 
there.  —  And  all  the  Canaa^iites]  in  J,  as  we  have  observed  in 
ch.  I  above,  Canaanite  is  the  comprehensive  name  for  the  popula- 
tions west  of  the  Jordan  which  the  Israelites  in  part  subjected  and 
among  whom  they  settled.  §     It  is  hardly  possible  to  reconcile  all 


*  The  verb  in  the  relative  sentence  must,  as  Ba.  urges,  have  the  same  subj,  as 
the  inf. ;  to  teach  them  war  is  another  end,  not  easily  harmonized  with  getting 
knowledge  of  Israel. 

t  Ew.  {GVI.  ii.  p.  382)  would  pronounce  a'jn^'^  (Qal),  that  they  might  learn. 

\  Yor  Xirh  with  a  noun,  see  Gen.  i824  Dt.  326  2  K.  8i''  Is.  45-1  Ike. 

\  E.  Meyer,  ZATW.  i.  p.  121  ff.;  iii. p.  306-309;  Budde,  Urgeschichie,  p.  345  ff. 


ni.  3-4  79 

the  Caiiaanites  here  with  the  usage  of  J ;  ^'^  in  the  context,  as 
Schmid  has  justly  observed,  the  words  cannot  refer  to  the  un- 
subjugated  Canaanites  in  IsraeUte  territory  (ch.  i),  but  to  a  com- 
pact population  on  its  borders. f  In  E  (and  consequently  in  D), 
however,  the  name  Canaanite  seems  to  be  employed  in  a  more 
restricted  sense  for  the  inhabitants  of  the  lowlands  of  western, 
and  especially  southwestern  Palestine;!  Nu.  \f'^  (E)  Dt.  i''  (cf. 
11^")  Jos.  5^;  further,  Jos.  i3'^'*  2  S.  24'  Zeph.  2^  This  corre- 
sponds, as  far  as  I  can  judge,  with  the  use  of  the  name  in  Egyp- 
tian sources,  and  would  be  altogether  suitable  in  the  text  before 
us,  as  well  as  in  Jos.  13"^-,  "the  Philistines,  and  the  Avvim  in  the 
south  —  all  the  territory  of  the  Canaanites."  For  this  reason  also 
it  is  better  to  ascribe  the  verse  to  E.  §  —  The  Sidonians\  Jos.  13'*. 
Here,  as  often,  the  collective  name  for  the  Phoenicians.  ||  Sidon, 
the  ancient  metropoHs,  gave  its  name  to  the  entire  people,  and 
the  denomination  persisted  after  the  political  and  commercial  he- 
gemony had  long  passed  to  Tyre  ;  see  10^  iS''  i  K.  5^  (Heb.  5^).  — 
The  Hittites  inhabiting  Mount  Lebanon']  conjectural  emendation ; 
J^  and  the  versions  have  Hivvites,  by  a  transcriptional  error  which 
occurs  in  |^  in  Jos.  11^  also.  The  Hivvites  were  a  petty  people  of 
Central  Palestine  (Gen.  34^  cf.  ^  36^  Jos.  9'') ;  ^  the  seats  of  the 
Hittites,  on  the  contrary,  were  in  Coele  Syria  and  the  Lebanon 
(i  K.  10^9  2  K.  7^  cf.  Jud.  i2«  2  S.  24«  (g),**  where  the  Egyptian 
inscriptions  also  place  them.  The  emendation  is  therefore  neces- 
sary, —  From  Mt.  Baal  Hermon  as  far  as  the  Gateway  of  Ha- 
math~\  Jos.  13^  defines  their  southern  boundary  somewhat  more 
precisely  as  "  Baal-gad  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  Hermon."  Baal-gad, 
according  to  Jos.   11^^  (cf.  12^)   the   northern   limit  of  Israelite 


*  That  it  is  left  to  the  reader  to  understand,  "  all  those,  namely,  who  were  men- 
tioned above  in  ch.  i "  (Bu.) ,  is  much  too  loose  writing  to  impute  to  the  author. 

t  Schm.,  p.  297 ;  so  also  Ba. 

X  Also,  apparently,  of  the  lower  Jordan  valley  and  its  southern  extension,  the 
"Arabah.     See  Masius  on  Jos.  134. 

§  It  is,  of  course,  possible  that  the  words  "  and  all  the  C."  are  interpolated ;  the 
difference  of  form  gives  some  ground  for  the  suspicion. 

II  So  also  in  Homer,  Od.  iv.  84,  &c. 

H  Compare  also  the  catalogue  of  the  "  seven  nations,"  in  which  the  normal 
order  is,  Perizzites,  Hivvites,  Jebusites;  Ex.  33'^  &c.  (13  times). 
**  See,  however,  Klostermann  on  the  last  passage. 


8o  JUDGES 

conquest  under  Joshua,  was  in  the  valley  of  the  Lebanon,  the 
Biqa\  and  must  therefore  have  been  on  the  western  side  of  Mt. 
Hermon,  perhaps  at  the  modern  Hasbeiya.* — Hamatli]  frequently 
mentioned  in  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  inscriptions  as  well  as  in  the 
O.T.,  is  the  modern  Hama,  a  city  of  60,000  inhabitants,  on  the 
Orontes  (el'AsI),t — ^/^^  Gateway  of  Hamath,  often  named  as 
the  northern  Hmit  of  Palestine  (Am.  6'^  2  K.  14^5  i  K.  8^  Ez.  \f 
48^  Nu.  34^  cf.  i3"0>  is  probably  the  plain  Homs,  some  30  miles 
south  of  Hama,  at  the  intersection  of  four  passes,  and  of  main 
roads  from  the  coast,  the  Syrian  desert,  and  north  and  south 
through  Coele  Syria. 

The  verse  implies  that  the  boundaries  of  Palestine  are  the 
desert  on  the  south,  and  the  northern  end  of  the  Lebanon  range 
on  the  north,  and  from  the  Antilebanon  and  the  Jordan  valley  to 
the  sea.  \  The  whole  of  this  territory  Israel  regarded  as  included 
in  the  gift  of  Yahweh.  Its  actual  possessions,  however,  were  of 
much  more  modest  dimensions.  The  entire  seaboard,  the  Philis- 
tine lowlands  and  the  plain  of  Sharon,  as  well  as  the  Phoenician 
coast  north  of  Carmel  and  the  whole  region  of  the  Lebanon  § 
remained  in  the  hands  of  its  old  inhabitants  or  were  conquered  by 
other  invaders  like  the  Philistines.  This  difference  between  the 
ideal  and  the  actual  boundaries  of  the  land  of  Israel  is  frequently 
noted. 

On  the  Philistines  see  New  Bible  Dictionary  (A.  &  C.  Black),  s.  v., 
where  the  older  literature  will  be  found;  Hitzig,  Urgeschichte  u.  Mythologie 
der  Philisider,  1845;  Stark,  Gaza  und  die  philist'dische  Kiiste,  1 85 2;  Pietsch- 
mann,  Phonizier,  p.  261  ff.;  Schwally,  "Die  Rasse  der  Philister,"  ZWTh. 
xxxiv.  p.  103-108;  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  387  ff.  —  The  Philistines, 
so  far  as  our  present  knowledge  goes,  did  not  make  their  appearance  in  Pales- 
tine until  the  age  of  Ramses  III.  Shortly  before  the  time  of  Saul  they 
subjugated  not  only  Judah  (Jud.  15II)  and  Joseph  (i  S.  4),  but  the  Canaanites 
in  the  Great  Plain  (i  S.  31^*^),  and  it  is  natural  to  surmise  that  these  successes 
were  gained  in  the  first  impetus  of  the  invasion.  Under  David  Israel  freed 
itself  from  them,  and  they  were  thenceforward  confined  to  the  southern  part 

*  Kneucker,  DL.  i.  p.  331 ;  Ba.,  Di.,  NDJ.  p.  499  f. ;  Bad3,  p.  297. 

t  On  Hamath  see  Pococke,  Description  of  the  East,  ii.  i.  p.  143  f.;  Burckhardt, 
Travels  in  Syria  and  the  Holy  Land,  1822,  p.  145  ff. ;  Rob.,  BR^.  iii.  p.  551 ;  BiidS. 
p.  398  f. ;  Arab  geographers,  Le  Strange,  p.  357-360. 

+  Cf.  I  K.  SOS  2  K.  1425  Am.  6^4. 

h  The  northernmost  settlement  of  Israel  was  at  Dan. 


III.  3-4  8 1 

of  the  seaboard  plain  with  its  five  cities.  —  The  Canaanites\  in  Egyptian  texts 
Canaan  {Ka-n-'-nq)  appears  to  be  a  district  of  southwestern  Palestine  not 
very  remote  from  Egypt.*  In  the  Amarna  correspondence  the  land  Ki-na- 
ah-hi  is  mentioned  a  number  of  times,  in  connexions  which  point  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Phoenician  cities  (Acco,  Berl.  8;  Tyre,  Land.  30). f  The  Phoe- 
nicians called  themselves  Canaanites,  their  land  Canaan.  %  Before  the  advent 
of  the  Philistines  the  plain  south  of  Carmel  was  no  doubt  occupied  by  the  same 
race  as  the  coast  north  of  it,  and  Canaanites  seem,  at  least  in  Southern 
Palestine,  to  have  occupied  also  the  hill  country  back  from  the  coast.  §  The 
current  etymological  explanation  of  the  name,  *  Lowland,  Lowlanders '  (Ro- 
senmiiller,  Bibl.  Alterthnmsk.,  1826,  ii.  I.  p.  75  f.,  Ges.,  al.  mu.)',  in  contrast 
either  to  Aram,  or  to  the  Amorites  ('  Highlanders'),  is  false  both  in  language 
and  fact;  see  my  note,  PA  OS.  1890,  p,  Ixvii-lxx.  The  texts  cited  above  for 
the  more  restricted  use  of  the  name  Canaanite  in  E  and  D  are  too  summarily 
disposed  of  by  Mey.  and  Bu.,  who,  because  they  conflict  with  the  representa- 
tion of  J,  regard  them  all  as  late  and  erroneous  theory.  But  the  theory  itself 
has  its  origin  in  the  usage  of  E. —  The  Sidonians']  in  Gen.  lo^^  Sidon  (Phoe- 
nicia) is  the  oldest  son,  i.e.  the  most  important  people,  of  Canaan;  but  Bu.  is 
perhaps  right  in  his  contention  that  in  the  O.T.  the  name  Canaanites  is  never 
specifically  employed  for  the  Phoenicians.  1|  See  further,  Smend,  HWB^. 
s.v."  Sidon";  Pietschmann, /%b'«m>r,  p.  106  f.  —  On  the  Hittites,  see  the 
literature,  DB^.  s.  v.  (i.  p.  1379);  and  add  Jensen,  review  of  Peiser,  ZA.  vii. 
357-366;  also  "Grundlagen  fiir  eine  Entzifferung,"  u.s.w.,  ZDMG.  xlviii. 
p.  235  ff.  —  In  Jos.  1 1^  the  departure  from  the  usual  order  of  the  catalogue 
suggests  that  Hivvites  and  Hittites  have  accidentally  exchanged  places,  and 
this  suspicion  is  confirmed  by  ^BMai.  j^_  ^q.  (^TBS.  p.  218)  emends  accord- 
ingly, the  Hittites  at  the  foot  of  Hermoti.  The  same  correction  is  made  in 
Jud.  f  by  Mey.  {ZATW.  i.  p.  126)  and  Bu.;  the  objections  of  Di.  {NDJ. 
p.  497)  are  of  no  great  force.  The  Hittite  empire  in  Syria,  with  which  the 
Egyptian  kings  of  the  19th  dynasty  waged  long  and  obstinate  war  for  the 
possession  of  the  land  of  Amor  (Northern  Palestine,  Coele  Syria),  had  disap- 
peared before  the  advent  of  the  Israelite  tribes  in  Palestine.     The  Hittites  of 

*  E.  Meyer,  ZA  TW.  iii.  p.  308  f. ;  Wiedemann  in  Budde,  Urgeschichte,  p. 
346  n. ;  Pietschmann,  Phonizter,  p.  97 ;  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  205  ff.  Miiller 
thinks  that  it  does  not  include  Phoenicia,  for  which  a  special  name  {Da-hi)  exists ; 
but  the  inference  is  perhaps  unwarranted. 

t  Communication  from  Prof.  D.  G.  Lyon ;  see  also  Halevy,  REJ.  xx.  p.  204  ff. ; 
Delattre,  PSBA.  1891,  p.  234. 

X  Canaan  (IVJD)  on  a  coin  of  Laodicea,  above,  p.  25  n. ;  Xj-a  =  >'JD,  Hecataeus 
[?  Abder.] ,  Miiller,  fr.  hist,  gr.,  i.  p.  17 ;  Choeroboscus,  Bekker,  anecd.  gr.,  iii. 
p.  1181;  Euseb.,  praep.  ev.,  i.  10  §  26;  Steph.  Byz.,  s.  v.  With  fliis  shorter  form 
Kinahhi  in  the  Amarna  tablets  must  be  connected. 

§  This  must  be  inferred  from  the  usage  of  J. 

II  Urgeschichte,  p.  348  ff.,  against  Ba.,  Di.,  BL.,  art. "  Kenaan  "  ;  Kautzsch,  H  WB., 
art.  "  Canaaniter,"  al. 
G 


82  JUDGES 

the  Lebanon  in  the  O.T.  are,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  Semites,  of  the  Palestin- 
ian, rather  than  the  Aramaean,  branch  of  the  race.  Heth  is  a  son  of  Canaan 
(Gen.  iqI^),  and  the  inclusion  of  their  country  in  the  ideal  limits  of  the 
promised  land  shows  that  it  was  regarded  as  part  of  Canaan.  —  Baal  Hermon\ 
i.e.  the  Baal  of  Mt.  Hermon;  cf.  Baal  Lebanon  in  Phoen.  inscription.  Many 
scholars  identify  Baal-gad,  Baal-hermon,  with  the  modern  Banias  (Paneas, 
Caesarea  Philippi),  on  the  southern  end  of  Mt.  Hermon;  so  Schwarz,  Ges. 
Thes.;  Rob.,  BR^.  iii.  p.  409  f.;  v.  Raum.,  Sepp,  Ke.,  Be.,  MV.,  SS.,  al.  The 
only  positive  argument  for  this  view  is  derived  from  i  Chr.  5"^;  but  this  late, 
and  in  |5  corrupt,  verse  cannot  stand  against  the  exphcit  statement  that  Baal- 
gad  was  in  the  Biq'ah,  with  which  the  site  of  Banias  cannot  be  reconciled. 
Still  less  can  Baal- gad  be  Ba'albek  (Heliopolis),*  which  by  no  stretch  of 
imagination  could  be  said  to  be  at  the  foot  of  Hermon.  On  Hermon  as  a 
sacred  mountain  see  Euseb.,  OS'^.  21737;  Jerome,  ib.  9019;  Hilary  on  Ps.  132; 
DEP'.  i.  p.  1340.  —  Hamat/i]  the  name  is  found  in  Egyptian  and  Assyrian 
inscriptions;  under  the  Seleucidae  it  was  renamed  Epiphaneia  (Ptol.,v.  15, 16; 
Plin.,  n.  h.,  v.  23  §  82;  OS^.  25713;  Jerome,  on  Ez.  47^^);  but  the  old  name 
remained  in  local  use  (Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  i.  6,  2  §  138).  — PDn  ni^*?  -i;?]  this  use  of 
the  inf.  is  almost  confined  to  this  phrase.  Am.  6^^  Jos.  13^  &c.;  besides, 
I  Chr.  5^  Ez.  4715  (on  wh.  see  Co.) .  It  is  therefore  not  strange  that  @  should 
take  it  as  n.  pr.  On  the  situation  see  Post  in  DB^.  (Amer.  ed.)  ii.  p.  987  f.; 
cf.  Rob.,  BR^.  iii.  568  f.;  Van  de  Velde,  Narr.,  ii.  469-471;  Ba.;  on  the 
routes  also  E.  Meyer,  GdA.  i.  p.  222  f. 

4.  They  served  to  try  Israel  by']  cf.  2^  3^''.  Continuation  of  v.^ 
by  the  same  hand  (E).  The  conception  is  a  frequent  one  in  E 
(Gen.  22^  Ex.  20^)  as  well  as  D.  —  To  know,  &'c.']  Theodoret 
{qu.S)  will  not  allow  that  God  tries  men  for  the  sake  of  knowing 
what  is  in  them ;  it  is  only  to  let  them  develop  and  reveal  their 
true  character;  similarly  Aug.  {qu.  17,  3):  non  ut  sciret  Deus 
omnium  cognitor,  etiam  futurorum,  sed  ut  scirent  ipsi,  et  sua  con- 
scientia  vel  gloriarentur,  vel  convincerentur.  The  author's  the- 
ology was  not  so  profound. 

5,  6.  The  Israelites  dwell  among  the  natives  of  the  land, 
intermarry  with  them,  and  worship  their  gods.  —  Meyer  and 
Budde,  in  accordance  with  their  analysis  of  the  foregoing,  ascribe 
these  verses  to  E  ;  but  they  contain  nothing  characteristic  of  E  ; 
the  catalogue  of  nations  suggests  rather  Rje  (cf.  Ex.  34")  or  a 
Deuteronomic  hand  (cf.  Dt.  7^-'*  Jos.  23^^).  It  seems  to  me  more 
probable  that  the  verses  are  substantially  from  J,  amplified  by  an 

*  Iken,  J.  P.  Mich.,  Ritter. 


TIL  4-C  83 

editor,  as  the  cognate  passage  in  Ex.  34  has  been.  Such  a  notice 
might  very  well  close  J's  account  of  the  settlement  in  Canaan; 
his  narrative  was  not  devoid  of  religious  judgement,  though  it  was 
not  so  dogmatic  as  in  E  and  D.  —  The  Canaanites,  6^^.]  to  the 
six  peoples  here  recited  the  complete  catalogue  of  the  "  seven 
nations  "  of  Palestine  (Dt.  7^)  adds  the  Girgashites  (Jos.  3^"  24")  ; 
but  usually  only  these  six  are  named  (Ex.  3*^-^^  23^  33^  34"  Dt.  20^^ 
&c.).  On  the  Canaanites,  see  on  3^;  Hittites,  3^;  Perizzites, 
i^ ;  Hivvites,  3"^  and  note  below  ;  Jebusites,  19^*^-.  —  The  Amorites~\ 
in  E  and  D  the  comprehensive  name  for  the  peoples  whom  Israel 
conquered  and  succeeded  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan.*  In 
Egyptian  texts  the  land  of  Amar,  or  Amor,  is  Northern  Palestine, 
with  the  region  of  the  Lebanon  in  whole  or  in  part.t  It  is  at 
least  a  noteworthy  coincidence  that  in  the  historical  tradition  of 
the  northern  tribes  we  find  the  name  Amorites,  in  that  of  the 
southern  tribes  (J),  Canaanites.  %  That  the  Amorites  were  of  a 
different  race  from  the  Canaanites,  there  is  no  conclusive  proof.  — 
6.  The  Israelites  intermarried  with  the  native  inhabitants;  cf. 
Ex.  34^^  Dt.  7^^'  Jos.  23^^.  —  And  worshipped  their  gods~\  the  con- 
nubium  in  itself  involved  the  recognition  of  one  another's  religion, 
and  was  naturally  followed  by  participation  in  the  cultus ;  cf. 
I  K.  ii^"*-^  &c.  Religious  exclusiveness  in  the  ancient  world  was 
possible  only  upon  terms  of  complete  non-intercourse. 

5.  The  Nations  of  Palestine.  On  the  lists  see  Ochla  we-Ochla,  No.  274. 
The  catalogue  seems  to  be  nowhere  original  either  in  J  or  E,  but  to  be  filled 
in  by  Rje  or  Rd.;  see  Mey.,  ZATW.  i.  p.  124  f.;  Bu.,  Urgesch.,  p.  344  fF.;  Di., 
NDJ.  p.  272.  §  Here  it  is  to  be  suspected  that  only  the  first  name,  the 
Canaanites,  is  original;  observe  the  ensuing  asyndeton.  —  •'•inn]  like  mD  (1°), 
is  supposed  by  many  to  have  been  originally  descriptive  of  a  mode  of  life, 
people  who  lived  in  nin,  Bedawin  encampments;   cf.  11  x>  nin  Nu.  32^^  and 

*  Steinthal,  Zeitschr.  f.  Volkerpsychologie,  xii.  p.  267 ;  We.,  Comp.  d.  Hexat., 
p.  135,  341  f. ;  Mey.,  ZA  TW.  i.  121  ff. ;  Bu.,  Urgeschichte,  p.  344  ff. 

t  See  E.  Meyer,  ZA  TW.  iii.  p.  306  ff. ;  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  213  flf.,  who 
restricts  the  term  to  the  Lebanon  region.  Cf.  also  the  use  of  the  name  in  Amarna 
correspondence  (letters  of  Aziru),  and  oi  rndt  amurri  in  Assyrian  inscriptions; 
Delattre,  PSBA.  1891,  p.  215-234. 

X  Cf.  also  Amos.  Miiller  {op.  cit.  p.  231)  is  unreasonably  skeptical  about  the 
existence  of  Amorites  in  Central  Palestine,  or  even  in  Galilee. 

\  Bacon  {JBL.  x.  p.  115  n.)  asserts  that  this  list  is  never  interpolated  in  E;  but 
qiiery. 


84  JUDGES 

Arab.  ,t-^*  So  Ges.  T^es.  (^pagamis),  Furst,  MV.,  Di.  on  Gen.  iqI^,  Sayce, 
al.;  cf.  Ew.,  GVI.  i.  p.  341  =  ///.  i-  p-  237.  But  the  Hiwites  of  Shechem 
and  Gibeon  (Gen.  34  Jos.  9)  were  surely  not  Bedawin;  nor  is  it  probable  that 
a  descriptive  name  of  the  sort  would  have  clung  to  them  in  spite  of  their 
change  of  life.  Perhaps  the  older  interpreters  in  the  Onomastica  were  more 
nearly  right  in  connecting  it  with  n^n  f  (drjpidjdeLs,  uiairep  60ets)  ;  it  is  conceiv- 
able that  it  is  an  animal  name,  the  Snake  clan.  —  Aviorites]  the  etymological 
interpretation,  '  Highlanders '  (Simonis,  and  many),  is  purely  fictitious,  like  the 
corresponding  explanation  of  Canaanite  (above,  on  38) ;  though  in  E  and  D 
the  Amorites  are  represented  as  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountainous  interior  of 
Western  Palestine,  the  land  conquered  by  Israel  (Nu.  1329  Dt.  i").  The  Amor- 
ites are  represented  in  Gen.  lo^*^  as  a  Canaanite  people,  like  the  Phoenicians 
and  Hittites.  Sayce  has  attempted  to  prove  that  they  belonged,  ethnologically 
to  a  distinct  race;  %  in  language,  rehgion,  and  civiHsation,  however,  they  are 
not  in  any  way  distinguished  in  the  O.T.  from  the  other  peoples  of  Palestine. 

III.  7-11.   Othniel  delivers  Israel  from  Cushan-rishathaim. 

—  The  Israelites  displease  Yahweh  by  neglecting  him  for  the 
worship  of  the  gods  of  Canaan  (v.'').  In  anger  he  gives  them 
up  to  Cushan-rishathaim,  king  of  Syria  on  the  Euphrates,  to 
whom  they  are  subject  eight  years  (v.^).  At  last,  moved  by 
their  cries,  he  raises  up  a  deliverer  in  the  person  of  Othniel  ben 
Kenaz,  who  goes  to  war  with  Cushan,  and  by  God's  help  prevails 
over  him  (v.^-^^).  The  land  enjoys  security  for  forty  years,  until 
the  death  of  Othniel  (v.") . 

The  pragmatic  introductory  and  closing  formulas  in  which  each 
of  the  stories  of  the  judges  is  set,  §  are  here,  where  they  are 
employed  for  the  first  time,  appropriately  expanded  to  their  com- 
plete typical  form.  This  amplitude  of  the  setting,  however,  only 
makes  more  conspicuous  its  emptiness.  ||  It  contains  nothing  but 
the  names  of  Othniel  and  Cushan,  the  former  of  which  is  derived 
from  i^'^,  the  other  is  an  enigma;  no  single  detail  of  the  struggle 
is  recorded,  —  it  is  evident  that  the  author  knew  none.     Nor  does 


*  On  the  original  meaning  of  '^  (tent)  see  De  Goeje  in  W.  R.  Smith,  Relig- 
ion of  Semites,  Ft.  i.  p.  256  n. 

t  A  connexion  of  "•in  with  mn  (Eve)  may  also  be  suspected;  Cass.,  We.,  Comp., 
P-  343. 

X  See  his  article,  "  The  White  Race  of  Ancient  Palestine,"  Expositor,  July,  1888, 
p.  48-57;  Races  of  the  O.T.,  1891,  p.  112  ff.  §  See  Introduction,  ^  3. 

II  The  lack  of  substance  in  the  story  was  felt  by  Fl.  Jos.,  who  fills  in  incidents 
apparently  suggested  by  events  of  the  Maccabaean  struggle  {antt.  v.  3,  2  ^  179-184). 


III.  7-^1  85 

the  bare  fact  pass  unchallenged.  The  subjugation  of  Canaan  at 
this  time  by  an  enemy  from  so  remote  a  quarter  is  highly  improba- 
ble,* if  not  beyond  the  bounds  of  possibiHty;  its  liberation  by 
Othniel,  a  Kenizzite  clan  in  the  extreme  south,  scarcely  less 
improbable.  It  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  evidence  of  inordinate 
skepticism  that  many  recent  scholars  have  doubted  whether  this 
typical  oppression  and  deliverance  has  any  basis  of  fact,  or  even 
of  tradition,  and  have  surmised  that  the  author  filled  the  blanks  in 
his  scheme  with  the  first  chance  names  at  hand.!  That  of  Othniel 
would  naturally  suggest  itself,  and  had  the  advantage  of  giving  a 
judge  to  Judah ;  whence  that  of  Cushan  came  it  is  idle  to  guess. 

The  method  by  which  Sayce  (^Higher  Criticism,  p.  297  ff.)  procures  the 
"  verdict  of  the  monuments "  against  the  critics  on  this  point  is  eminently 
characteristic.  We  are  told  that  the  people  of  Mitanni  (according  to  Sayce 
the  native  name  of  Aram-naharaim)  were  among  the  foes  —  "Libyans, 
Sicilians,  Sardinians,  Greeks,  Cypriots,  Hittites,  and  Philistines"  —  who  com- 
bined against  Egypt  in  the  reign  of  Ramses  III.  (p.  298) ;  and  from  the  fact 
that  the  King  of  Mitanni  does  not  figure  at  Medinet  Habu  among  the  con- 
quered foe,  Sayce  concludes  that  he  probably  remained  behind  in  Syria  or 
Palestine  (p.  300);  the  eight  years  that  Cushan  oppressed  Israel  would 
exactly  correspond  with  the  eight  years  between  the  beginning  of  the  Libyan 
attack  on  Egypt  and  the  campaign  of  the  Pharaoh  in  Syria  (303  f.).  Prof. 
Sayce  gives  no  references.  The  land  of  Mitanni  (Miten)  is  mentioned,  so 
far  as  I  can  ascertain,  but  twice  in  the  inscriptions  of  Ramses  III,,  %  and  that, 
not  in  any  connexion  with  the  incursion  of  the  northern  barbarians,  but  in 
those  catalogues  of  remote  and  strange  countries  which  were  compiled  in 
order  that  the  Pharaoh  might  seem  as  great  a  conqueror  as  Thothmes  III., 
from  whose  inscriptions  many  of  the  names  are  derived.  §  That  "  we  know 
from  the  Egyptian  records  that  Mitanni  or  Aram-naharaim  took  part  in  the 
invasion  of  Egypt"  is  an  assertion  for  which  Prof.  Sayce  owes  it  to  us  to 
produce  the  evidence.  Without  this  proof,  the  whole  combination  is  as  base- 
less as  it  is  ingenious.  || 

*  It  involves,  it  must  be  remembered,  not  only  the  conquest  of  the  Israelite 
tribes,  but  of  the  Canaanites,  with  their  strong  cities  (ch.  i). 

t  We.,  Comp.,  p.  219  ;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  94  f. ;  Sta.,  G  VI^.  i.  p.  69. 

X  See  Sayce  himself,  p.  300. 

§  On  the  character  of  these  lists,  v.  E,  Meyer,  Gesch.  Aegypt.,  p.  319;  Miiller, 
Asie7i  u.  Europa,  p.  284,  who  affirms  that  the  name  of  Miten  never  occurs  in  a  his- 
torical text  after  the  i8th  dynasty. 

II  Kitt.,  who  does  not  admit  that  Othniel  is  an  unhistorical  figure,  imagines  that 
the  story  is  a  dim  reminiscence  of  the  wars  of  Ramses  III.  and  Tiglath  Pileser  I. 
in  Palestine  {GdH.  i.  2.  p.  70). 


S6  JUDGES 

7.  See  on  7>^.  — Forgot  Yahwch,  &'c.']  Dt.  6^^  g"- i^.  19  32I8 
I  S.  1 2^  Hos.  2^3  Jer.  3^^  &c. ;  cf.  also  Jud.  8^*.  —  Served  the  Baals'] 
see  on  2".  —  And  asherahs']  in  by  far  the  greater  number  of 
instances  in  the  O.T.  the  asherah  is  a  wooden  post  or  mast,  which 
stood  at  the  place  of  worship  ;  see  on  6^^-.  In  this  verse,  how- 
ever, as  in  I  K.  18^^  2  K.  23'',*  it  is  evidently  intended  for  the 
name  of  a  divinity ;  and  as  in  these  passages  Asherah  stands  by 
the  side  of  Baal  precisely  as  Astarte  does  elsewhere  (2^^  10*^1  S.  f 
12^^),  it  was  a  natural  inference  that  Asherah  was  only  another 
name  (title  or  epithet)  of  Astarte. t  The  wooden  asherah  was 
then  supposed  to  be  the  symbol  or  image  of  this  goddess.  Others 
distinguish  Asherah  from  Astarte  in  different  ways.  %  On  the 
other  hand,  the  existence  of  a  goddess  Asherah  is  denied  by  some 
conservative  scholars,  §  and  by  many  recent  critics  ;  ||  the  passages 
which  seem  to  prove  the  contrary  are  to  be  explained  either  as 
metonymy  (the  name  of  the  symbol  being  put  for  that  of  the 
goddess),  or  as  the  confusion  by  late  writers  of  the  symbol  ashe- 
rah with  the  goddess  Astarte.  So  far  as  the  O.T.  is  concerned 
these  scholars  are  right;  it  gives  no  sufficient  evidence  that  a 
goddess  Asherah  was  worshipped  by  Canaanites  or  Israelites. 
The  name,  Ebed-asherah,^  in  letters  found  at  el-Amarna,  may 
signify  no  more  than  that  the  asherah  post  itself  was  esteemed 
divine,  a  fetish,  or  a  cultus-god,  as  no  one  doubts  that  it  was  in 
O.T.  times.  See  on  the  whole  question,  my  article,  "Asherah" 
in  the  new  Bible  Dictionary. 

In  I  K.  18^^  the  400  prophets  of  Asherah  are  interpolated  (We.,  Sta., 
Klo.) ;  2  K.  21'^  mc'NH  '?D3,  Voij  is  gloss,  in  the  same  sense  in  which  2  Chr.  33"^ 
substitutes  S::D;  i  K.  1513  =  2  Chr.  15IS  r\-\vnh  mSsD  is  not,  "a  horrible 
thing  (traditionally,  Priapus,  phallus)  to  Asherah,"  but,  as  an  asherah;  2  K.  23'' 
n"\2'N^  DTia  is  obscure  and  prob.  corrupt;   if  the  traditional  vestments  be  right, 

*  Cf.  also  2  K.  2i7  I  K.  15I3. 

t  This  is  doubtless  the  cause  of  the  frequent  confusion  in  the  versions ;  see  also 
Thdt.,  gu.  55  in  4  Reg.  The  identification  is  accepted  by  Selden,  Spencer,  Ges., 
Vatke,  Stud.,  Be.,  Renan,  Schrader,  al.  mu. ;  more  doubtfully  Baudissin. 

X  E.g.,  Movers,  Phonizier,  i.  p.  560  ff. ;  Sayce,  Cont.  Rev.,  xliv.  p.  391  f. ;  Higher 
Criticism,  p.  80  f. 

§  Hgstbg.,  Ba.,  Baethgen. 

II  We.,  Sta.,  G.  Hoffmann,  W.  R.  Smith,  Bu.,  al. 

11  Ahad-As-ra-tum,  &c.,  sometimes  written  with  the  divine  determinative ; 
Schrader,  ZA.  iii.  p.  363  f. 


III.  7-IO  sy 

it  would  not  prove  the  existence  of  a  goddess  or  an  idol,  but  only  that  the 
sacred  post  was  draped.  2  K.  23*  remains,  the  only  passage  beside  our  text 
in  which  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  divinity  is  meant;  but  even  here  it  may 
only  be  one  of  the  common  cases  in  which  part  of  the  apparatus  of  worship 
has  become  an  object  of  worship  —  a  cultus  god.  That  later  writers  took  the 
asherahs  for  heathen  deities,  or  idols,  is  perhaps  to  be  inferred  from  the 
appearance  of  a  new  fem.  plur.  nnti'X,  2  Chr.  19^  33^  Jud.  3^^;  in  Old  Hebrew 
the  name  of  the  class  is  anii'X,  from  which  the  nom.  unitatis  is  formed  in  the 
usual  way,  ht^'X,  which  owes  its  fem.  gender,  not  to  its  being  or  representing 
a  female  divinity,  but  to  grammatical  formation. 

8.  Cf.  2}^.  —  Cushan-rishathaim\  the  second  name  suggested 
to  Hebrew  ears  risJiah,  wickedness,  and  the  traditional  pronun- 
ciation probably  intends  "  Cushan  (  ?  the  Nubian)  of  double-dyed 
villainy  "  ;  *  compare  similar  displays  of  wit  in  the  names  of  the 
kings  Bera  and  Birsha  Gen.  i4^,t  Tabal  Is.  7"  &c.  —  Aram- 
naharawi]  Gen.  24^^  Dt.  23^^  Ps.  60  (title)  ^  RV.  Mesopotamia,  % 
that  is,  the  whole  immense  region  between  the  Euphrates  and  the 
Tigris,  from  the  mountains  of  Armenia  and  the  continuation  of  the 
Taurus  in  the  north  to  the  latitude  of  Babylon,  or  even  to  the  Per- 
sian Gulf.  §  The  Aram-naharaim  of  the  O.T.  probably  did  not 
extend  farther  east  than  the  Chaboras  (Habur)  ;  1|  it  may,  like 
the  Egyptian  Naharin,  have  included  also  a  more  or  less  extensive 
tract  west  of  the  Euphrates.^  —  9.  The  Israelites  cried  to  YahweJi] 
standing  formula;  y}^  ^^  6^-'^  io^«  i  S.  i2«-io  cf.  Ex.  2^^  14I0  Jos.  24^ 
—  Yahweh  raised  up  a  deliverer,  6^^.]  v.^^.  Delivei-er  is  synony- 
mous v^\\ki  judge  ;  cf.  2^^-^^.  —  Othnielj  d^c.'\  see  on  i^^  — 10.  The 
spirit  of  Yahweh  ca^ne  upon  hiin'\  koI  iyevero  lir  avrov  (3,  not 
fuitque  in  eo  2L.  Cf.  11^  Nu.  24^  i  S.  19-°-^  and,  with  expressions 
which  give  more  prominence  to  the  suddenness  or  violence  of  the 
seizure,  Jud.  6^'*  13-^  14*^-^^  15^*  i  S.  11^  i6^^  To  the  energy  of 
the  spirit  of  God  is  attributed  whatever  seems  to  transcend  the 
limits  of  man's  own  sagacity  or  strength ;  the  heroic  valour  of  the 
judges,  the  wisdom  of  the  ruler  (Nu.  ii^^^-  i  S.  16^^),  the  genius 


*  Sanhedr.,  105a;  Yalgut ;  Ki.,  Abarb.  in  loc. 
t  STJer.  I. ;  Beresh.  rab.  \  42  (ed.  Sulzb.,  f.  37a). 

J  So  (E  in  all  other  places  and  many  codd.  here,  %,  Vat.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Ba.,  Be., 
Ke.,  al.  mu.  \  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  746;  Ptol.,  v.  i8,  i;  Plin.,  «.  h.,  v.  66. 

II  Kiepert,  Nold.,  Di.,  Mey. 
H  See  E.  Meyer,  Gesch,  Aeg.,  p.  227 ;  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u,  Europa,  p.  249  ff. 


88  JUDGES 

of  the  artist  (Ex.  31^  36^),  the  inspiration  of  the  poet  (2  S.  23-), 
the  divine  frenzy  of  the  Nebiim  (i  S.  10^^),  the  revelations  of  the 
prophet  (Ez.  3-^  &c.),  extraordinary  feats  of  any  kind  (Jud.  14^ 
cf.  I  K.  iS^*^) ;  see  in  general,  Is.  11^  28^.  In  many  of  its  mani- 
festations, especially  in  older  times,  it  was  thought  of  as  a  physical 
force  (Jud.  14^  15"  i  K.  18^-'^''  2  K.  2^^  &c.).  Extraordinary  evil 
as  well  as  good  is  caused  by  it;  for  example,  Saul's  madness 
(i  S.  16"  19^),  false  prophecy  (i  K.  22^-).*  —  He  vindicated 
Israel'^  RV.  and  most,  judged  Isi-ael ;  but  the  verb  means  not  so 
much  *  pronounce  a  judgement '  as  *  establish  a  right,'  and  in  the 
present  context  it  is  parallel  to  delivery?,  as  in  2^'^-^^  lo^-^;  cf. 
"  He  .  .  .  that  vindicates  his  country  from  a  tyrant "  (Massinger). 
Others,  became  judge,  began  to  exercise  the  office  of  judge ;  f 
without  warrant  in  usage.  The  following  clauses  explain  how  he 
vindicated  Israel.  — He  went  to  war']  2^^  cf.  i  S.  8"°.  —  He  got  the 
upper  hand  of  Cushan]  prevailed  over  him,  6^  Ps.  89^^  cf.  Jud.  i'^. 
The  language  imports  that  he  not  only  liberated  Israel,  but  subju- 
gated the  oppressor  ;  cf.  6'.  — 11.  The  land  enjoyed  secimty  forty 
years']  it  was  exempt  from  further  attacks  for  a  whole  genera- 
tion. This  formula  of  the  editor  also  y.^  f^  8-^  cf.  Jos.  11-^  14^^ 
The  forty  years  run  from  the  victory  of  Othniel  to  his  death ; 
cf  2^®,  "  Yahweh  was  with  the  judge  and  delivered  them  from  their 
enemies  as  long  as  the  judge  lived."  On  the  chronology,  see 
Introduction,  §  7.  Othniel's  death  was  the  end  of  the  period 
of  security,  the  beginning  of  a  new  period  of  apostasy  and  disas- 
ter ;  cf.  2^\ 

—  8.  D\'^>'a'n  po]  Cushan  is  the  name  of  a  Bedawin  tribe  connected  with 
Midian  (Hab.  3'^),  perhaps  a  subtribe  of  that  people  (Nu.  12^;  Moses' 
Midianite  wife  is  a  Cushite,  i.e.  of  Cushan).  An  incursion  of  these  Bedawin, 
and  their  defeat  and  expulsion  by  the  Kenizzites  of  Debir  (Othniel),  is  con- 
ceivable enough;  and  if  the  names  are  taken  from  any  historical  connexion, 
we  might  conjecture  that  it  was  from  some  such  stojy.  pn  is  related  to  tr'iD 
as  j-Ji"?  to  -JiV,  pip  to  |>p,  |;'JD  to  ;7J3  Xj/a,  '\-\t\'^  to  -in""  &c.;  observe  the  frequency 
of  clan  names  in  an  in  the  Midianite  genealogy,  Gen.  25^,  in  comparison  with 
the  Ishmaelites,  2^'^-.    The  pronunciation  ^tyiD  prob.  intends  a  st.  cons.,  after 

*  Maimonides,  More  Nebochi7n,  Pt.  ii.  c.  45  ;  Oehler,  Alttest.  TheoL,  \  65  ;  Schultz, 
Alttest.  TheoL, '^  p.  586  f.  =  Old  Test.  TheoL,  ii.  p.  202  f. ;  Konig,  Offenbarungsbegriff 
d.  A.  T.,  i.  p.  171  ff. ;  Smend,  Alttest.  Religiotisgeschtchte,  p.  460  ff. 

t  Lth.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Rosenm. 


III.  lo-ii  89 

the  analogy  of  Aram-naharaim,  to  which  also  the  dual  D]n]}\:^-\  is  probably 
conformed.  —  ^1":}^^  D-\n]  apparently  "Aram  of  two  rivers";  the  ancients 
thought  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  many  moderns  of  the  Euphrates  and 
Chaboras,  or  Belias  *  (Belih) ;  others  of  the  Euphrates  and  Orontes,t  or 
Euphrates  and  Chrysorrhoas  (Barada).|  It  may  fairly  be  questioned,  how- 
ever, whether  the  pronunciation  which  makes  the  noun  dual  is  not  factitious. 
As  a  geographical  term  onnj  probably  corresponds  to  the  Egyptian  Naharin  § 
(there  is  no  trace  of  a  dual  form),  which  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  upper 
Euphrates;  see  Meyer  and  Miiller  cited  above,  p.  87  n.  The  name  would 
then  signify  merely  "  River-Syria."  The  only  cities  in  Aram-naharaim  which 
are  named  in  the  O.T.  are  Harran  (Gen.  24IO)  and  Pethor  (Dt.  23^  cf.  Nu.  22^) ; 
the  latter  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  Euphrates  (Schrader,  KAT'^.  p.  156). 
— 10.  S^-W'y  nx  tOD'i£'''i]  an  exhaustive  examination  of  the  usage  of  the  verb 
^^'i?  by  Prof.  H.  Ferguson  is  to  be  found  in  JBL,  viii.  p.  130-136;  see  also 
Bachmann,  p.  25  ff.  That  tan-^  often  means  'give  judgement,'  tOQC'O  'judicial 
decision,'  needs  no  illustration;  cf.  only  i  K.  3"28.  But  it  is  often  'do  justice, 
or  get  justice  done,'  '  give  one  his  rights  or  his  dues.'  It  is  thus  equivalent  on 
the  one  hand  to  '  defend,  deliver,'  on  the  other  to  '  condemn,  punish.'  i  K.  8^^ 
illustrates  both;  cf.  the  Latin  vindicare  in  both  senses.  See  Is.  i^"  (||  nn) 
Jet.  528  Ps.  10I8  72*  26I  (vindicate  me,  O  Yahweh).  It  is  parallel  to  cdVj 
Ps.  43I;  pnxn,  S''sn,  ca'?^,  823-4;  yv^m  72*.  In  Judges  it  is  synonymous  with 
the  last-mentioned  verb,  '2y°-'^^  ■^-  lo^f-  &c.;  cf.  Neh.  ^"^^  where  j;'«a'iD  stands 
for  1031!:';  and  so  well  established  is  this  signification  that  t3i3*.r  is  construed, 
like  other  verbs  of  delivering,  rescuing,  with  jd  or  n""?:,  i  S.  24^^  2  S.  iS^^-^i. 
This  is  probably  the  sense  in  i  S.  8'^*^;  the  Israelites  demand  a  king,  "  that  our 
king  may  vindicate  (judge)  us,  and  march  out  at  our  head  and  fight  our 
battles"  (^,  Drus.,  al.),  closely  parallel  to  the  present  passage. 

III.  12-30.  Ehud  kills  Eglon,  king  of  Moab,  and  liberates 
Israel. — The  Israelites  again  offend  Yahweh,  who  enables  the 
king  of  Moab  to  defeat  them,  occupy  Jericho,  and  hold  Israel  in 
subjection  for  eighteen  years  (v.^^"^'').  From  this  tyranny  they 
are  delivered  by  Ehud  ben  Gera,  a  left-handed  Benjamite,  who 
by  a  ruse  secures  from  Eglon  a  private  audience  (v.^^'^),  assassi- 
nates him  (v.-^^),  escapes  (v.-^"-^),  and  at  the  head  of  his  tribes- 
men from  Mt.  Ephraim  cuts  oft*  the  Moabites  west  of  the  Jordan 
(v.^"^).     The  land  enjoys  a  long  period  of  security  (v.^*^). 

The  author  of  the  Book  of  Judges  has  furnished  this  story  with 

*  BiArjxa,  BaAto-cro?.  f  Howorth,  Acad,,  Jan.  17,  1891,  p.  65. 

J  Hal6vy,  Melanges  d'epigraph.,  p.  81. 

^  In  the  Amarna  correspondence  Nahrhna,  with  Canaanite,  instead  of  Ara- 
maic, plural  ending. 


90  JUDGES 

the  usual  pragmatic  setting,  employing  in  both  the  introduction 
^y  12-15-^  and  conclusion  (v.-*^'^")  material  derived  from  the  older 
narrative.  As  in  other  cases,  he  converts  the  story  of  a  local 
struggle  into  a  chapter  of  the  religious  and  political  history  of  all 
Israel.  The  unity  and  integrity  of  the  story  itself  (v.^^^'-')  has 
until  recently  been  unquestioned;  only  the  beginning  has  been 
supplanted  by  the  phrases  of  D,  and  the  sequel  of  v.^  is  not 
completely  preserved  in  v.^^'^.  Winckler,  however,  has  lately 
endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  narrative  is  composite,  and  to  sepa- 
rate it  into  its  elements,  J  and  E.*  Neither  his  analysis  nor  his 
exegesis  is  likely  to  be  accepted,  but  he  has  shown  that  the  story 
is  not  as  homogeneous  as  has  been  generally  beUeved.  Verse  ^", 
in  particular,  is  not  the  sequel  to  v.^'Vbut  a  variant  parallel  to  it; 
and  in  the  following  verses  to  the  end  traces  of  dupKcation  may 
be  discovered  (see  esp.  v.-^^-). 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  memory  of  Ehud's  exploit  was 
kept  alive  among  his  tribesmen  of  Benjamin  ;  his  story  retold  on 
holidays  at  Gilgal.  It  has  the  quality  of  the  best  Hebrew  folk- 
stories,  and  is  beyond  doubt  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  book.  From 
what  source  it  was  extracted  by  the  author  of  Judges,  it  is  difficult 
to  decide  with  confidence.  Stade  ascribes  it  to  E,|  chiefly  on  the 
ground  of  resemblances  between  3^^  and  lo^*^-^^;  but  the  expres- 
sions in  3^^  are  probably  from  the  hand  of  D  (cf.  3^) .  Schrader, 
on  the  contrary,  attributes  it  to  J,  t  and  as  between  the  two  the 
impression  which  the  whole  tenor  of  the  narrative  makes  is  favour- 
able to  the  latter  hypothesis.  § 

The  events  related  are  in  nowise  improbable.  It  would  indeed 
be  strange  if  the  success  of  the  Israelites  in  establishing  themselves 
west  of  the  Jordan  had  not  tempted  others  to  follow  their  example. 
The  Moabites,  whose  territory,  except  in  the  times  of  the  greatest 
expansion  of  Israelite  power  east  of  the  Jordan,  extended  to  the 

*  AlttestamentL   Untersiichungen,   1892,  p.  55-59.      Winckler's   analysis   is :    J. 

3I4. 15ap,  b.  17. 18.  19a;3,  b.  20b|3.  21.  22.  24aa,  b.  25aa.  26bj3.  27aa.  28a.  28ba.  29  ;    E.  13b 16 I'Jaa. 

20 23.  24aj3,  b.  25a^,  b.  2Ca,  ba.  27.  28b|3.  ??, 

tz^irpr.i.p.343. 

X  De  Wette,  liinlfi,  p.  327. 

\  So  also  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  100.  Bu.  notes  that  nnriDnn  v.26  is  found  be- 
sides only  in  J  (Gen.  19IO  43I0  Ex.  12'iya)  ;  this  is  perhaps  true  also  of  the  Hiph. 
h''r\r\  v.'-is  (Gen.  8^''  J),    Winckler  also  attributes  the  principal  narrative  to  J. 


Ill,  12-13  91 

northern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  or  beyond,  may  very  well  have 
brought  under  their  power  the  plain  of  Jericho  and  the  adjacent 
parts  of  Mt.  Ephraim  (Benjamin).  The  well-designed  and  boldly 
executed  ruse  by  which  the  tyrant  is  slain,  and  in  the  ensuing 
confusion  his  retainers  cut  off,  has  altogether  the  note  of  reality. 
Noldeke,*  while  recognizing  this,  thinks  that  the  name  of  the 
deliverer  cannot  be  historical :  Gera  is  a  son  (Gen.  46-^)  or 
grandson  (i  Chr.  8^)  of  Benjamin,  i.e.  a  Benjamite  clan,  Ehud 
himself  a  great-grandson  ( i  Chr.  7^^  cf.  8^)  ;  the  concurrence  of 
the  names  of  two  clans  of  the  same  tribe  is  conclusive.  There 
is  no  difficulty,  however,  in  supposing  that  a  clan  of  Benjamin  in 
later  times  bore  the  name  of  the  hero  Ehud ;  or  even  that,  without 
this,  the  name  was  introduced  into  the  genealogies  of  the  chron- 
icler directly  from  our  text.t 

12-14.  The  Israelites  again  offend  Yahweh ;  with  his  sup- 
port Eglon  attacks  them  and  occupies  Jericho  ;  they  are  subject 
to  Moab  eighteen  years. — The  usual  introduction;  only  the 
name  of  Eglon  and  his  conquest  of  Jericho,  the  Palm  City,  are 
derived  from  the  old  story ;  the  rest  is  made  up  of  the  set  formu- 
las of  D.  — 12a  4I  io«  13I  cf.  3^  6^  2^1  (comm.  there).—  Yah- 
weh eiiabled  Eglon  to  prevail  over  Israel~\  it  was  Yahweh  who,  to 
punish  the  sin  of  his  people,  gave  him  this  power ;  cf.  Ez.  30-^ 
Jer.  27^'^  43^°^-  Is.  45^^'.  Somewhat  similarly  Mesha,  king  of  Moab, 
in  his  inscription  :  ''  Omri  was  king  of  Israel ;  and  he  oppressed 
Moab  a  long  time,  because  Chemosh  was  angry  with  his  land."  — 
13.  Eglon  allied  to  himself  the  Ammonites  and  Amalekites ;  very 
likely  an  exaggeration  of  D.  %  The  Ammonites  were  the  neigh- 
bours of  Moab  on  the  NE.  and  their  nearest  kindred.  The 
Israelite  settlements  in  Gilead  interposed  between  them  and  the 
Jordan.  §  Moab  and  Ammon  appear  as  allies  against  Israel  in 
2  Chr.  20^  also.  The  Amalekites  were  Bedawin,  chiefly  of  the 
southern  desert,  against  whom  the  Israelites  cherished  an  impla- 
cable hatred ;  see  on  i^^  and  especially  on  6^.  —  He  went  and  beat 
Israel  and  occupied  the  Palm   City\   of  the  war  itself  we  learn 


*  Untersuchungen  zur  Kritik  des  A.  T.,  p.  179  f. ;  so  also  Sta.,  ZA  TW.  i.  p.  343, 
G  V/^.  i.  p.  68.  t  So  also  Budde,  Ric/ii.  u.  Sam.,  p.  100. 

J  Budde,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  99.        §  See  further  on  ii*. 


92  JUDGES 

nothing  from  these  general  phrases,  and  are  tempted  to  surmise 
that  the  author  of  Judges  has  here  curtailed  the  story.  The  Palm 
City  is  Jericho;  see  on  i^*'.  The  mention  of  Jericho  here  has 
been  found  difficult.  According  to  Jos.  6"^"-^  Joshua  totally  de- 
stroyed the  city  and  laid  the  site  under  a  ban;  i  K.  i6"*  records 
the  rebuilding  of  the  city  in  the  reign  of  Ahab  and  the  fulfillment 
of  Joshua's  curse.  In  the  intervening  centuries  the  place  is 
named  only  here  and  in  2  S.  10^,  These  passages  are  commonly 
harmonized  with  i  K.  16^  by  the  supposition  that  down  to  the 
time  of  Ahab  Jericho  had  been  an  unwalled  town,  and  that  Hiel 
drew  upon  himself  the  curse  by  attempting  to  fortify  it  ;*  but  the 
passage  before  us  would  rather  lead  us  to  infer  that  Jericho  was  a 
strong  place,  the  possession  of  which  secured  Eglon's  hold  on  his 
conquests  west  of  the  Jordan ;  and  it  is  not  very  probable  that 
David  left  this  important  position,  one  of  the  two  great  eastern 
gateways  of  his  kingdom  (cf.  2  S.  10^),  unfortified.  — 14,  IS^-. 
of.  v.^^'-l 

12,  JiSj;']  as  the  name  of  a  man  only  in  this  chapter.  As  a  topographical 
name  it  occurs  repeatedly  east  of  the  Jordan  in  the  modern  form  'Aglun; 
cf  Eglon  in  Judah  (Jos.  lo^-^^),  modern  'Aglan.  Roman  names  such  as 
Juvencus,  Vitellius,  Vitulus  have  been  compared;  see  Ba.  —  Moab'\  the  land 
of  Moab  lay  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  stretching  eastward  to  the  confines  of  the 
desert.  On  the  southwest  it  bordered  on  Edom;  on  the  northeast  it  had  the 
Ammonites  for  neighbours;  and  on  the  north,  Israelite  tribes,  Reuben  and  Gad, 
the  former  of  which  early  disappears  (see  on  Jud.  5^^). —  Ji  ^z^'-;  ""O  S;;]  in  this 
use  ""D  is  much  less  frequent  than  nifN;  the  instances  are  Dt.  31I'''  Jer.  4^^ 
Mai.  2I*  Ps.  139^*.  Cf.  T^N  p>  and  ^j  ty,  "ib'X  ^py  and  ^o  :3p>%  and  see  Ew., 
§  336  c;  Roorda,  §  506.  — 13.  v^'T^m]  the  plur.  refers  to  the  allies,  but  the 
change  of  subject  is  harsh;   (Q%  give  a  sing. 

15-18.  Ehud,  chosen  to  convey  the  tribute  to  Eglon,  secretly 
arms  himself;  he  presents  the  tribute  and  dismisses  the  bearers. 

15^'^.  Ehud  ben  Gera~\  the  author  passes  over  to  the  older  nar- 
rative which  he  incorporates.  Gera  is  a  Benjamite  clan  (Gen. 
46"'  2  S.  16'  &c.  — Shimei  ben  Gera—  i  Chr.  8  ^•^•')  ;  that  Ehud 
is  also  a  clan  name  is  less  certain,  and  if  true  would  not  prove  the 
name  of  our  hero  unhistorical.f  The  deliverer  comes  from  the 
tribe  on  whose  soil  the  Moabite  invaders  had  planted  themselves. 

*  Ew.,  G  VL  iii.  p.  490,  Ke.,  Ba,,  Be.,  Di.,  al.  f  See  above,  p.  91. 


III.  13-18  93 

—  A  left-handed  man']  the  literal  and  original  meaning  seems  to 
have  been,  a  man  with  his  right  hand  drawn  up,  contracted  by 
accident  or  disease  ;  but  in  usage  it  has  come  to  signify  no  more 
than  one  who  has  not  the  natural  use  of  his  right  hand,  /e//- 
handed.  He  took  advantage  of  this  defect,  in  consequence  of 
which  his  movements  excited  no  suspicion  until  he  struck  the 
fatal  blow ;  see  on  v.^*^-  -^•.  —  TJie  Israelites  sent  by  him  tribute] 
lit.  a  present;  2  S.  8-«  i  K.  5^  (EV.  4-^)  2  K.  17^-^  Hos.  lo^  Ps. 
72^^  &c.*  —  On  the  question  whether  Eglon's  residence  was  at 
Jericho  or  east  of  the  Jordan,  see  on  v.-".  — 16.  Ehud  provided 
himself  with  a  weapon  peculiarly  suited  to  his  purpose.  —  A  two- 
edged  dirk  a  gomed  long]  the  name  of  the  measure  does  not  occur 
elsewhere  in  the  O.T. ;  it  appears  to  correspond  to  the  Greek 
TTvyix-Tj,  the  distance  from  the  elbow  to  the  knuckles  of  the 
clenched  fist,  about  thirteen  or  thirteen  and  a  half  inches.  The 
old  translators  and  most  modern  commentators  think  of  a  shorter 
dagger,  a  span  long ;  but  the  description  of  Eglon's  corpulence 
(v.^'')  is  pertinent  only  in  relation  to  the  fact  that  a  long  dirk  was 
buried,  hilt  and  all,  in  his  belly.t  —  He  hung  it  under  his  clothes 
on  his  right  thigh]  the  opposite  side  from  that  on  which  the  sword 
was  usually  worn,  so  that  if  the  guards  of  the  king  felt  for  con- 
cealed weapons  it  would  not  be  likely  to  be  discovered ;  while  at 
the  same  time,  if  it  was  more  than  a  mere  stiletto,  it  was  in 
the  most  convenient  place  for  a  left-handed  man  to  draw. — 
17.  Now  Eglon  was  a  very  fat  man]  a  circumstance  of  impor- 
tance in  the  sequel  of  the  story  is  parenthetically  introduced  by 
anticipation  at  the  first  meeting  of  Ehud  and  Eglon,  instead  of  in 
v.^  or  ^^.  — 18.  Comparing  small  things  with  great,  we  may  illus- 
trate this  presentation  of  tribute  by  the  famous  reliefs  on  the 
black  obelisk  of  Salmanassar,  depicting  the  payment  of  tribute 
by  Jehu,  with  their  long  procession  of  Israelites  bearing  the  treas- 
ures of  their  land  to  present  to  the  king.  $  —  He  dismissed  the 


*  So  in  other  languages;  e.^.  S^pa,  Died,  Sic,  i,  58;  cf.  Hdt.,  iii.  89,  &c. 

t  Stud. 

i  Layard,  Monuments  of  Nineveh,  1849,  fol.  Ser.  i.  no.  53;  Nineveh,  1849  (8vo), 
p,  347 ;  cf.  also  the  payment  of  tribute  to  Sennacherib  at  Lachish  ;  Egyptian  scenes, 
Lepsius,  Denkmdler,  Abth.  iii.  pi.  115-118 ;  E,  Meyer,  Gesch.  d.  alt.  Aegyptens,  p.  242, 
244. 


94  JUDGES 

people  who  carried  the  tribute']  the  payment  was,  of  course,  made 
in  kind,  so  that  a  considerable  number  of  porters  would  be  neces- 
sary, but  in  the  East  under  such  circumstances  it  is  customary  to 
employ  a  much  larger  number  than  is  necessary ;  the  size  of  the 
retinue  is  a  mark  of  honour.  From  the  following  verse  *  (cf.  v.^^) 
we  must  infer  that  Ehud  accompanied  them  part  way  on  their 
return,  and  when  he  had  seen  them  safe  beyond  the  reach  of 
subsequent  pursuit,  returned  alone  to  the  king's  residence. 

15.  irn-"  i""  n^as  ti'vs]  -\;2X  20^^ ^  ^IL  ambidextrous :  ^5»  more  correctly, 
draivn  up,  drawn  out  of  shape.     The  vb.  "itox  (cognate  with  DiOn)  Ps.  69^^  \ 

'contract,  close';  Ar.  vi^!,  'bend  into  a  hoop.'  The  adj.  ijon,  of  the 
regular  type  for  defects  and  deformities,  would  accordingly  mean,  maimed  by 
having  the  hand  bent  double,  drawn  shut,  so  distorted  as  to  be  useless 
(Abulw.,  Ki.  Lex..,  Ra.,  Tanch.,  al.).  In  20^6,  however,  the  writer  cannot 
mean  that  the  700  Benjamite  slingers,  this  corps  d^elite,  were  all  maimed  or 
deformedjt  and  in  MH.  the  meaning  left-handed  is  well  established;  cf.  Shabb.y 
103*,  Mejiach.,  2>T  mid.,  Bechor.,  45*^  (see  Ra.  on  the  last  two  passages), 
Tos.  Bechor.,  v.  8  (ed.  Zuckerm.,  p.  5403).  So  Fl.  Jos.  here,  rOiv  xetpcDi'  ttjv 
dpKrTepav  d/xeivoju  /cctTr'  eKclvrjs  Trjp  diracrav  iax^v  ex^v;  Abarb.,  Stud.,  Ke., 
Be.,  Ba.,  Cass.  — 16.  nNvo  ^j^']  plur.  of  hd,  Ki.,  01.,  Sta.  It  was  dia-ro/xov 
^icpos,  Eurip.,  He/.  983,  cf.  Ecclus.  2i3  Hebr.  4!"^  Apoc.  i^^,  gladius  anceps, 
Prud.,  Cathem.,  vi.  85;  a  two-edged  dirk,  not  as  Jerome  glosses  in  his  transla- 
tion, "  habens  in  medio  capulum,"  a  double-ended  dagger,  which  is  incom- 
patible with  V.-2  —  n^-is  nr':i]  the  Jewish  interpreters  explain  ^^iw^f^/ as  a  cubit, 
more  exactly,  a  short  cubit,  cubit  minus  the  fingers;  see  Ra.  in  loc,  Rashbam 
on  Baba  bathra,  100",  Aruch,  s.v.  lOJ^;  cf.  Jer.  Yoma,  iv.  4  (4I<=).  J  So  it  is 
translated  here  by  ^  a.  It  would  thus  correspond  exactly  to  the  Greek  irvy^jL-fi 
rPoll.,  ii.  147,  158).     See  my  note  in  JBL.  xii.  p.  104. 

19-22.  Ehud  contrives  a  private  interview  with  the  king 
and  kills  him.  — 19.  Ehud  returns  alone.  —  From  the  sculptured 
stones  near  Gilgal]  probably  rude  stone  images  ;  §  the  translation 
quarries  1|  is  an  unnecessary  and  unwarranted  departure  from  the 
well-known  meaning  of  the  word;  graven  images^  perhaps  too 


*  If  it  be  the  original  sequel  of  v.  18. 

t  This  holds  even  if  the  words  are  a  gloss,  as  Bu.  conjectures. 
X  .See  also  Weiss  on  Mechilta,  fol.  59" ;  Jastrow,  Dictionary,  s.  v. 
\  GIL,  Lth.,  Schm.,  Stud.,  al. 

II  CTS",  Jewish  and  many  Christian  commentators,  AV.,  RV. 
^  AV"'o-  RV"'g-,  and  elsewhere  uniformly  in  the  text. 


III.  18-20  95 

specifically  suggests  statues.  Gilgal  itself  probably  had  its  name 
from  an  old  stone  circle  (cromlech),*  whose  stones,  according  to 
a  popular  tradition,  were  set  up  by  Joshua  to  commemorate  the 
passage  of  the  Jordan  (Jos.  4-") ;  and  it  has  frequently  been  sur- 
mised that  the  sculptured  stones  or  images  of  our  text  are  in 
some  way  connected  with  the  stones  erected  by  Joshua.t  Others, 
gathering  from  v.^''-  -'^  that  when  a  man  had  passed  this  point  he 
was  safe  on  Israelite  soil,  suppose  that  they  were  boundary  stones 
(images)  set  up  by  Eglon.  |  — I  have  a  p7'ivate  coi7i7nunication  for 
thee']  a  natural  pretext,  and  all  the  more  likely  to  be  admitted 
without  suspicion  because  Ehud  had  just  brought  the  tribute  of 
his  tribesmen;  cf.  v.^. — He  commanded,  Silence  /~\  the  command 
is  addressed  not  to  Ehud,  §  but  to  the  attendants,  ||  who  are  to 
leave  him  in  privacy.  —  20.  The  verse  seems  to  be  parallel  to 
v.^^,  rather  than  a  sequel  to  it.  In  v.^^  Ehud  appears  before  the 
king  in  his  public  audience  room  and  announces  that  he  has  a 
secret  communication  to  make  to  him ;  the  king  has  the  room 
cleared,  leaving  Ehud  alone  with  him.  In  v.^  Ehud  goes  in  to 
him  as  he  is  sitting  in  his  roof-chamber  alone  and  announces  that 
he  has  a  divine  communication  for  him.  The  difficulty  was  early 
felt,  and  various  exegetical  expedients  have  been  proposed  to 
relieve  it.  The  favourite  explanation  is  that  the  words  of  Ehud  in 
v.^^,  "  I  have  a  private  communication  to  make  to  thee,  O  King," 
were  not  spoken  by  him  in  person  in  the  public  audience,  but 
were  conveyed  to  the  king  by  an  attendant ;  upon  receiving  this 
message  Eglon  dismissed  his  court  and  received  Ehud  alone  in 
his  private  apartments.^  Another  hypothesis  is,  that  after  hearing 
the  words  of  Ehud,  spoken  in  public,  Eglon  dismissed  the  by- 
standers and  retired  to  his  private  roof-chamber,  whither  Ehud 
was  presently  conducted.**     Either  of  these  suppositions  is  easy 


*  See  on  2I. 

t  Fr.  Junius,  Ew.,  Knob.,  Vaihinger,  Stud,,  al,,with  very  various  — and  equally 
groundless  —  hypotheses  about  the  nature  of  the  connexion. 

J  RLbG.  (alt.),  a  Lap.,  Schm.,  Hgstbg.,  Ke.,  Ba.,  Cass. 

§  ©BN,  Ki.,  Abarb.,  Schm.,  a  Lap.,  Cass.,  Doom,  al. 

II  (5ALai.iLSi!r,  Fl.  Jos.,  Ra.,  RLbG.,  Stud.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Ba.,  al. 

11  Lth.,  Stud.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Ba. ;  cf.  RLbG.,  Schm. 

**  To  take  the  verb  in  v,  20  as  pluperf.,  Now  Ehud  had  entered,  &^c.  (Doom.), 
only  aggravates  the  difficulty. 


96  JUDGES 

enough  in  matter  of  fact;  but  neither  of  them  is  exegetically 
plausible.  If  the  author  had  meant  the  first,  he  would  have  given 
Ehud's  words  in  a  different  form ;  *  if  the  second,  he  would  not 
have  left  it  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader.  —  JV/iere  he  was  sit- 
ting in  his  cool  upper  story  alone']  not  in  the  public  divan.  The 
dipper  stoiy  (al'iyah,  still  called  in  Arabic  by  the  same  name)  is 
an  additional,  ordinarily  third,  story  raised  above  the  flat  roof  of 
the  house  at  one  corner,  or  upon  a  tower-like  annex  to  the  build- 
ing. It  generally  contains  but  a  single  apartment,  of  larger  or 
smaller  dimensions,  through  which  latticed  windows  on  all  sides 
give  free  circulation  of  air,  making  it  the  most  comfortable  part 
of  the  house.  —  /  have  a  divine  communication  for  thee]  cf.  v,-'^. 
The  words  naturally  suggest  a  communication  from  the  God  of 
Israel  which  had  come  to  Ehud,  whether  by  dream,-)-  oracle,  or 
otherwise,  and  which  it  concerned  Eglon  to  hear.  \  Others  sup- 
pose that  Ehud  meant  by  the  intentionally  ambiguous  phrase,  I 
have  God's  business  with  you,  a  divine  commission  to  execute 
upon  you.  §  It  does  not  appear  that  the  author  had  this  ingenious 
equivocation  in  mind ;  or  that  he  would  have  thought  it  worth 
while  to  protect,  by  so  slender  a  pretext,  Ehud's  reputation  for 
veracity.  He  tells  of  it  as  a  clever  and  successful  ruse,  with  no 
more  reflexion  on  its  morality  than  on  that  of  the  assassination 
itself.  —  He  arose  from  his  chair]  presumably  as  a  sign  of  reve- 
rence for  the  oracle.  ||  The  movement,  which  Ehud  may  have 
reckoned  upon,  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  get  within  striking 

*  I  have  a  private  communication  for  the  king. 

t  Fl.  Jos. 

X  They  are  so  understood  by  ffi'S,  Ra.,  and  most  interpreters,  ancient  and 
modern.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  suppose  that  Ehud  assumed  the  char- 
acter of  a  prophet  (Cler.,  al.). 

§  Schm.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Ba. ;  Schm.  even  imagines  that  Eglon  so  understood  the 
words.  Cf.  Aug.,  qu.  20:  Potest  non  esse  mendacium,  quandoquidem  verbi 
nomine  solet  etiam  factum  appellare  Scriptura,  et  re  vera  ita  erat.  On  the  whole 
question  see  further  Schm.,  qu.  7.  8  ;  Ba.,  p.  234  f. 

II  Sanhedr.,  60*,  Rabb.,  Cler.,  Stud,,  Ke.,  al.  According  to  the  Midrash  the  mar- 
riage of  Ruth  (the  daughter  or  granddaughter  of  Eglon)  was  the  reward  of  this 
piety;  Ruth  rab.  on  i*  (fol.  29^,  ed.  Sulzb.),  Yalqut.  Other  explanations,  such  as, 
he  arose  in  joy  at  the  announcement  (Fl.  Jos.),  or  in  alarm  at  Ehud's  menacing 
words  and  gestures  (Be.),  to  call  his  guards,  or  to  defend  himself  or  fiy  (Schm.), 
are  in  varying  degrees  improbable.  Schnurrer  suggested  that  he  wished  to  draw 
nearer  to  Ehud  for  greater  secrecy ;  cf.  perhaps  ©. 


III.  20-22 


97 


distance  without  exciting  suspicion,  which  he  could  hardly  have 
done  if  Eglon  had  remained  seated,  and  for  this  reason  it  is 
related.  —  21.  Ehud,  still  without  arousing  suspicion,  reaches  with 
his  kft  hand  for  his  dirk  (v.^*^),  quickly  draws,  and  plunges  it  into 
the  king's  belly.  —  22.  The  force  of  the  blow  was  such  that,  in 
spite  of  the  length  of  the  weapon,  the  hilt  followed  the  blade  in  ; 
the  dirk  was  doubtless  without  either  guard  or  cross-piece.  — 
Ehud  left  the  knife  sticking  in  the  wound.  —  And  the  fat  closed 
after  the  blade'\  the  fat  which  covered  the  intestines  ;  cf.  v.^^  It 
is  not  necessary  to  infer  from  the  preceding  clause  that  the  whole 
hilt,  pommel  and  all,  disappeared;  so  that  there  is  no  conflict 
between  the  two  statements.*  The  last  words  of  the  verse  are 
very  difficult,  and  almost  certainly  corrupt.  The  most  probable 
interpretation  is,  and  the  dirt  came  out~\  the  feces ;  not  from  the 
wound,t  but  through  the  anus,  the  usual  consequence  of  such  a 
wouixi  in  the  abdomen.  J  This  somewhat  drastic  touch  is  alto- 
gether in  the  vein  of  the  narrator ;  cf.  v.^^-  ^'''  ^^^.  The  emendation 
of  the  Hebrew  text  which  it  necessitates  is  not  difficult.  The 
translation  preferred  in  RV.,  afid  it  {sc.  the  sword)  came  out 
behind,  §  gives  a  mere  guess  at  the  meaning  of  the  word,  and  is 
grammatically  unsound.  The  rendering  of  RV"--,  he  (Ehud)  wejit 
out  into  the  antechamber,  ||  is  only  possible  if,  with  Winckler,  we 
ascribe  the  words  to  a  different  author  from  the  first  clause  of  v.^. 
For  other  hypotheses  see  note. 

19.  yv  Nim]  the  nominal  sentence  emphasizing  the  contrast;  he  dis- 
missed the  bearers,  but  himself  turned  back,  &c.  —  □"'^Ti:]  plur.  to  the  sg.  'r'Ds; 
images  of  gods  Dt.  7"^^  128  is.  21^  cf.  Hos.  ii^  Mi.  i'^,  in  human  or  animal 
forms  Dt.  4I6-I8  cf.  v.23. 25.  So  here  ffi^^BL  s  (=  0)  -^XvirrOiv,  <m  Thdt.  d^<h- 
Xwv,^  IL.  —  Dn  iDNii]  an  exclamation  hke  Hush  !  Hist !  Am.  6^'^  &c.  —  20. 
2^'"'  Nini]  circumstantial;  Dr^.  §  160  —  nipnn  n"'S>':j]  cf.  v.-^,  cool  upper-story. 
So  in  sense  (!51t,  while  ^  thinks  of  the  upper  story  of  a  summer  palace 
(Am.  3^^).     Such 'a/zy^/^.r  are  frequently  mentioned  in  the  O.T.;   in  private 

*  Though  it  would  be  possible  to  ascribe  them  to  two  different  sources. 

t  Vatabl,  cf.  RLbG. 

X  So  H,  statimque  per  secreta  naturae  alvi  stercora  proruperunt,  C,  Deresh.  rab,, 
§  99,  Rabb.,  Lth.,  AV.,  al. 

§  So,  wUth  various  modifications,  Schm.  (aversa  pars  corporis') ,  Cler.  {postica  pars 
corporis,  supra  climes),  Tv.-]un.,  Rosenm.,  Simonis  {podex) ,Ges.  Thes.  {interstitium 
pedum),  IMaurer  {stercoreus) ,  &c.  \\  (G. 

H  (GGN  ii,Spi;iv  •  ?  transcriptional  error  for  ivSpidvTiav. 
II 


98  JUDGES 

houses  (guest  chambers)  i  K.  i;^^.  23  2  K.  410- ",  as  well  as  in  palaces,  2  K.  i^ 
(latticed  windows),  Jer.  22i3- 14  (spacious).  A  similar  structure  was  sometimes 
erected  over  a  city  gate,  2  S.  19^  (EV.  iS^^),  or  at  an  angle  of  the  city  wall  (?) 
(Neh.  S^i-^);  often  in  Talm.  Cf.  virep^ov  Acts  i^^  937.39  20^.  In  the  modern 
East,  see  Shaw,  Travels,  214-216  (N.  Africa);  Niebuhr,  Reisen,  i.  pi.  68 
(Sana'),  Thomson,  Latid  and  Book'^,  ii.  p.  634,  636  (fig.).  — n^S  iS  ik'n] 
n^S  is  rightly  connected  by  most  scholars  with  the  verb,  sitting .  .  .  alone  ; 
not  in  his  private  'aliyah  (Vatabl.).  — a^nSx  "I3"i]  not  aliquid  adinirandum  et 
sttipendiwi  (Brenz) ;  phrases  like  □"'hSn  rnn  (Gen.  35^)  describe  the  terror  as 
caused  by  a  god  (panic).  —  D^nSx  is  naturally  used  in  speaking  to  a  foreigner; 
but  in  the  mouth  of  Ehud  means  Yahweh,  and  would  be  so  understood.  — 
NDr]  chair.  Chairs  were  found  in  private  houses  (2  K.  4!"^),  but  are  more 
frequently  mentioned  as  the  seat  of  persons  of  rank,  for  instance,  of  Eli 
(i  S.  i^  413),  the  queen  mother  (i  K.  2^9),  esp.  the  king  (i  K.  i^^  r\:i'hr:ir\  ndd 
&c.).  The  latter  stood  so  high  as  to  require  a  foot  stool  (ain),  or  was  raised 
on  a  platform  and  approached  by  steps  (i  K.  lo^^).  See  representations  of 
Egyptian  chairs  and  thrones,  Wilkinson,  Ancient  Egyptians,  ed.  Birch,  i. 
p.  408  ff. ;  cf.  also  Buchholz,  Ho7nerische  Realien^  ii.  2.  §  85 ;  Baumeister, 
Denk77ialer,  p.  1650  ff.  —  21.  iri32a  n;;pn^i]  the  vb.  4^1  (driving  a  peg)  2  S.  iS^* 
&c.  —  22,   'Ji  Nb^l  0  reads  as  a  causative,  and  Bu.  would  emend  X3>i,  he 

T--"  "T- 

(Ehud)  caused  the  hilt  to  enter,  which  is  less  natural  than  ^ — ^^^l"^]  '^^^A 
haft,  Arab,  nisab.  —  irh'\  blade  ;  \\t.  flame.  — njnij'-iDn  n^jm]  the  subject  cannot 
be  the  sword,  for  3-\n  is  fem.;  it  might  grammatically  be  the  blade,  irh,  but 
it  is  hardly  in  accordance  with  the  natural  logic  of  speech  to  go  back  to  this 
noun.  Moreover,  the  meanings  attributed  to  pc'na  by  those  who  construe 
thus  are  fictitious,  the  product  of  most  improbable  etymological  combinations, 
that  with  Ar.  <Xwvi  'straddle'  being  not  the  least  absurd.  In  the  present 
context  the  subject  cannot  be  Ehud,  whose  exit  is  regularly  related  in  the 
next  following  words;  no  author  is  negligent  enough  to  write,  and  he  went 
out  to  the  parsbedon,  ajid  Ehud  went  out  to  the  misderon.*  If  we  make  Ehud 
the  subject,  we  must  either  assume  that  one  of  these  two  clauses  is  a  gloss  to 
the  other  (Ew.,  Bci.,  al.),  or  that  they  came  from  two  different  sources  and 
have  been  most  awkwardly  juxtaposed  by  the  compiler  (Winckler).  Against 
the  former  alternative  it  may  properly  be  urged  that  the  supposed  explanation 
is  as  obscure  as  the  word  to  be  explained.  It  is  barely  possible,  however,  that 
prnD  is  a  Greek  gloss  (?  Trpoa-T^op),  or  the  corruption  of  such  a  gloss.  The 
translations  Trpocrrdda,  irapaardda  ('A)  rd  -wpbdvpa  (2)  are  guesses  following 
hints  in  the  sound  of  the  word.  In  this  obscurity  it  is  perhaps  best,  with 
Jewish  exegetical  tradition,  to  find  in  nncno  the  subject  of  the  vb.,  and  then 
to  emend  with  N6.,t  Bu.,  u^nsn  Ex.  2914  &c.,  the  feces  (in  the  stomach  and 
bowels  —  not  excrement) ;  njn!:'-\Q  may  have  arisen  by  accidental  conformation 
to  njmDD  V.23a. 


*  So  Ki.  rightly  says.  f  Untersuchungen,  p.  180  u. 


III.  23-25  99 

23-26.  Ehud's  escape.  —  23.  Ehud  went  out  to  the  .  .  .] 
Heb.  7nisderdn;  from  the  context,  the  name  of  the  part  of  the 
building  to  which  Ehud  passed  from  the  ^altyah,  and  through 
which  he  made  his  exit  from  the  house.  The  meaning  of  the 
word  is,  however,  unknown,  and  in  our  ignorance  of  the  con- 
struction and  arrangement  of  the  house,  it  is  of  Httle  use  to  guess. 
The  various  renderings  proposed  —  guard-room,  vestibule,  portico, 
arcade,  gallery,  balustrade,  staircase,  &c.  —  show  the  inadequacy 
of  etymology  to  determine  the  meaning  of  a  technical  word.  — 
And  closed  the  doors  of  the  upper  story  upon  hint]  sc.  on  Eglon, 
shutting  him  up  in  the  chamber.  The  plural,  doors,  of  the  two 
leaves  of  a  double  door  (i  K.  6'^""-^'^  cf.  Jud.  16^  i  S.  21^^).*  The 
last  words  of  the  verse,  and  locked  them,  are,  as  the  false  tense 
proves,  the  addition  of  a  scribe,  who,  observing  that  the  doors 
were  locked  (v.^^-^),  missed  an  explicit  statement  here  that  Ehud 
locked  them,  —  24.  So  he  went  out~\  he  emphatic  ;  in  English  we 
should  subordinate  the  clause,  after  he  went  out,  d^c.  —  Eglon's 
servants  came,  and  found  the  door  of  the  upper  story  bolted. 
From  the  connexion  of  the  clauses,  as  well  as  from  what  follows, 
it  is  naturally  to  be  inferred  that  they  saw  Ehud  pass  out  by  the 
usual  way ;  they  would  not  have  sought  to  intrude  unsummoned 
upon  a  private  inter\new,  and  in  v.^  they  evidently  believe  their 
master  to  be  alone.  —  //  7nust  be  that  he  is  relieving  himself  in  the 
cabinet  of  the  cool  chamber'\  the  sense  of  decency  in  such  mat- 
ters is  very  highly  developed  among  Orientals,  as  it  was  in  general 
in  the  civilized  peoples  of  antiquity.  —  25.  They  waited  till  they 
saw  that  they  were  mistaken~\  lit.  to  the  point  of  confusion  (2  K.  2^^ 
8^^)  ;  an  idiomatic  expression  suggestive  of  confounded  hopes  or 
expectations,  perplexity,  perturbation.  Then,  as  he  did  not  open 
the  door,  they  took  the  key  and  opened  it.  In  the  locks  still 
in  common  use  in  the  East  the  bolt  is  shot  by  hand,  or  by  means 
of  a  thong.  A  number  of  pin-tumblers  then  drop  into  corre- 
sponding holes  in  the  bolt  and  lock  it.  The  key,  which  is  used 
for  unlocking  only,  is  a  flat  piece  of  wood  in  one  end  of  which 
are  set  pins  corresponding  in  number  and  position  to  the  tumblers 
of  the   lock  and   in  length  to  the  depth  of  the   bolt.t      It  is 

*  So  0upai  in  Horn. 

t  Sometimes  the  key  is  a  bent  piece  of  metal ;  but  the  principle  is  the  same. 


TOO  JUDGES 

slipped  lengthwise  under  the  bolt,  which  is  undercut  for  the  pur- 
pose, until  its  pins  entering  lift  the  tumblers  clear  and  allow  the 
bolt  to  be  pushed  back.*  The  references  in  the  O.T.  make  it 
altogether  probable  that  the  locks  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  were 
of  this  pattern.  —  Having  opened,  they  found  their  master  lying 
dead;  cf.  the  very  similar  scene,  Judith  14"^-.  —  26.  The  two 
halves  of  the  verse  have  the  appearance  of  doublets ;  t  the  first 
clause  of  v.^  cannot  be  construed  in  continuation  of  v.%  and  as  a 
circumstantial  clause  depending  from  the  preceding  —  he  escaped 
. .  .he  having  passed  over,  %  —  is  unusually  awkward.  The  structure 
is  exactly  parallel  to  v.%  and  the  significant  verb,  he  escaped,  is 
found  in  both  halves. —  While  they  wei'e  delaying\  v.-"'*'-. — He 
passed  the  sculptu7'ed  stones'^  the  way  in  which  these  are  mentioned 
here  and  in  v.^^  is  thought  to  indicate  that  this  was  the  last  Moabite 
outpost,  beyond  which  he  was  in  no  danger  of  being  stopped  or 
overtaken  by  the  enemy  ;  §  but  in  our  ignorance  of  the  topography 
this  is  a  somewhat  uncertain  inference  ;  the  words  may  be  meant 
only  to  describe  the  road  Ehud  took.  In  v.^^  we  might  even 
translate,  he  crossed  {sc.  the  Jordan)  to,  or  near,  the  sculptured 
stones ;  \  see  below.  —  To  Seirali]  otherwise  unknown.  If  v.^' 
is  the  original  sequel  of  v.-^^,  it  must  have  been  a  place  on  the 
edge  of  the  highlands  of  Ephraim. 

It  is  commonly  assumed,  though  without  any  distinct  intimation 
in  the  text,  that  the  scene  of  Ehud's  exploit  was  Jericho,  v.^%^ 
where  Eglon  resided,  either  permanently,  or,  as  is  more  probable, 
at  the  time  for  the  collection  of  the  yearly  tribute.  But  it  is  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  reconcile  this  with  v.^^^-  ^^'^,  since  Gilgal  is 
not  on  the  way  from  Jericho  to  Mt.  Ephraim,  but  in  exactly  the 
opposite  direction,  toward  the  fords  of  the  Jordan  leading  to  the 
land  of  Moab.**     All  becomes  natural,  however,  if  we  assume  that 


*  Russell,  Aleppo"^,  1794,  i.  p.  21  f. ;  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians^,  p.  19  f.;  Thomson, 
Land  and  BooM^,  iii.  p.  413 ;  cf.  Wilkinson,  And.  Egyptians,  ed.  Birch,  i.  p.  353  f. 

t  Winckler.  %  Driver^,  ^S  160  (p.  199)  ;  of.  4I. 

$  RLbG.,  Schm.,  al. ;  see  on  v.w.  ||  Bu. 

H  Fl,  Jos.,  Ba.,  Cass.,  and  most. 

**  We  cannot  evade  this  difificulty  by  supposing  that  a  different  Gilgal  is  meant, 
(Masius,  Ke.,  Ba,,  Ph.  Wolff,  in  Ri.  HWD^.  p.  518)  ;  in  this  connexion  with  Moab 
and  Jericho,  Gilgal  in  the  Jordan  valley  would  necessarily  be  understood.  If  the 
author  had  intended  another,  he  must  have  added  some  definition. 


III.   25-26  lOI 

the  residence  of  Eglon  was  east  of  the  Jordan,  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  which  is  on  other  accounts  also  the  more  probable  hypoth- 
esis.* The  name  of  the  place  need  not  have  been  mentioned ; 
or  it  may  have  been  subsequently  omitted.t 

23.  njmD?:n]  the  versions  seem  all,  in  one  way  or  another,  to  connect 
the  word  with  MH.  (Aram.  Syr.)  "no  'row,  rank  ';  (3  i^rjXdeu  toOs  diaTeray/j.^- 
povs,  E  N-nDDN'?  (e^45pa),  ^  ^i-joon  TtTnN  {^v<tt6s);  similarly  Abulw.,  Ra., 
Ki.,  RLbG.,  Drus.,  Cler.,  and  most  moderns.  —  "n^o]  upon  him  (Eglon),  not 
after  himself  {i.e.  innN  Gen.  19O);  Gen.  f^  2  K.  4'*.  —  S;ji]  the  tense  admits  of 
no  grammatical  explanation,  cf.  7^^  16I8  2  S.  131^.  Other  instances  Dr^.  §  133; 
Roorda,  §  536.  —  24.  nsi  Nini]  the  nom.  sent,  describing  the  circumstances 
or  conditions  under  which  the  following  action  took  place;  see  on  the  whole 
subject,  Dr^.  §  156  ff.  —  rhr\  ns  Nin  'T'DD  in]  -[X  restrictive;  the  only  explana- 
tion of  the  closed  door  is,  &c.  Ew.  §  354  a;  Lex.  s.  v.  The  phrase  cover  one's 
feet  (i  S.  24^)  is  a  euphemism  from  the  posture  assumed  in  evacuating  the 
bowels,  the  long  garments  forming  a  tent-like  covering  over  the  lower  extremi- 
ties (RLbG.);  so  (Sil^S  (vid.),  Ra.,  Ki.  {Comm.),  Drus.,  Cler.,  vSchm.,  Ke., 
Cass.,  al.  X  Not  urinate  ((§^,  Ki.  Lex.  and  Comm.  on  I  S.  24*,  Mi.  Yophi) ;  v. 
M.  Yoma^  iii.  2;  Bochart,  Hierozoicoti^  ed.  Rosenm.,  i.  p.  777  ff.  The  root  is 
1DD;  Ki.  Co7n?n.,  Bo.,  Ol.,  K6.  i.  p.  354.  —  r\-\pr:^ry  inn]  cstr.  of  -i-rn,  01.  §  134  d; 
Sta.  §  191  c.  Probably  a  cabinet  or  closet  in  the  7\-\\^r)  ((gAvi^MO  g  j  ^^  r^ 
a7roxwp77(ret  tov  koltQvos,  ^,  RLbG.,  Schm.,  Rosenm.,  Cass.,  al.).  That  in 
this  sense  we  should  necessarily  have  'dh  niS;;  'n  (Ba.)  is  too  strong  an  asser- 
tion.—  25.  C'n  t;  iS^nM]  the  Hiph.  in  this  sense  only  Gen.  8^^  (J).§  In  ny 
mn  (2  K.  2I7  8^0  '^n  is  inf.  (Drus.),  not  pf.  (Ki.);  cf.  n^^S  t;  2  Chr.  24I0. 
From  the  way  in  which  it  is  used  it  seems  that  the  original  significance  of  the 
vb.  was  no  longer  very  distinctly  felt,  and  that  the  phrase  had  become  equiva- 
lent to  a  long  while  (Fl.  Jos.  ttoXvp  xP^vov)  ;  cf.  ISD  t;  very.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  assume  two  roots  (Castell,  Stud.,  Fiirst).  —  nnpp]  nom.  instrum..  Is.  22^2 
I  Chr.  9^7  ^  —  .np  n^fiN  Saj]  fallen  to  the  ground^  dead.  The  ptcp.  of  the 
intrans.  vb.  is  nearly  equivalent  to  an  adjective,  prostrate  on  the  grotatd ; 
cf.  4^2  1^27  J  g^  ^3.4  2(i8_  See  Schultens,  Origines,  p.  144  (comparison  of 
Hebr.  with  Gr.  and  Lat.  idioms  of  vb.  '  fall ').  — 26.  Dncnnnn  -y-;']  for  n>'  with 
inf.  cf.  Ez.  33^"^  Jon.  4^.  The  original  meaning  of  i;',  'duration,'  distinctly 
appears  in  these  phrases;  cf.  2  K.  9-2,  Ew.  §  217  <?.  The  verb  19^  2  S.  15^8; 
in  Hexat.  Gen.  19IG  43IO  Ex.  12^9  (all  J).  — D^S^Don  nx  13;'  Nini]  "not  the 
mere  addition  of  a  fresh  fact  like  '^2T\  but  the  justification  of  the  preceding 
toSr^j,"  —  he  having  passed ;  Dr^.  p.  199.     If  the  text  is  not  composite,  this  is 


*  So  Ra.,  Schm.,  Stud.,  F.  W.  Schultz.    According  to  Winckler,  J  laid  the  scene 
in  Moab  ;  E  in  Jericho.  t  Bu. 

+  Cf.  Derachoth,  62i> ;  Fl.  Jos.,  b.j.  ii.  8, 9  ;  Burckhardt,  Travels,  &c.,  p.  445,  518  f. 
6  If  the  text  be  sound. 


I02  JUDGES 

the  only  possible  construction.  The  accus,  is  commonly  interpreted,  he  passed 
the  hnages ;  cf.  I  S.  142=^.*  Bu.  proposes,  he  crossed  (the  Jordan)  jiear  the 
images^  comparing  Gen.  32^2,  which  is,  however,  usually  explained  like  the 
preceding  example.  A  third  possibility  is,  he  passed  over  to  the  images,  cf.  1 129 
and  note  there.  Winckler's  conj.  '^•r\  nx  n::;',  he  sacrificed  to  the  images,  is  a 
particularly  unhappy  conceit.  —  nnn>>'-.:'n]  n.  pr.,  ace.  of  limit  of  motion  after 
d'?oj  (Gen.  iqI"^  Is.  37^^).  The  article  is  evidence  only  that  the  meaning  of 
the  name  was  kept  in  mind,  not  that  it  should  be  translated  as  appellative 
(Ra.,  thicket,  Inish).  -'•'>*::'  Jos.  1$^^  on  the  boundary  of  Judah  is  much  too 
far  away.     Winckler  would  seek  Seirah  east  of  the  Jordan. 

27-29.    Ehud   raises  the    Israelites ;    they   seize  the  fords 
and  cut  off  all  the  Moabites  on  that  side  of  the  Jordan.  — 

The  narrative  is  not  free  from  derangement  and  repetition,  which 
are  generally  attributed  to  the  interference  of  the  editor,  but  may- 
arise  from  the  combination  of  two  accounts.  —  27.  When  he 
came']  in  the  context,  we  must  suppose,  to  Seirah,  though  we 
should  in  that  case  expect  the  particle  thithei-.  Some  recensions 
of  (§  have,  to  the  land  of  Israel,  which  may  be  only  an  addition 
of  the  translator,  but  shows  that  the  incompleteness  of  v.^*  was 
felt,  and  is  entirely  suitable  to  the  context.  —  Sounded  the  alarm] 
lit.  blew  the  war  horn;  a  summons  to  arms,  6'^^  i  S.  13'^.  —  The 
Highlafids  of  Ephi^aim]  2^  4^  7^  Jos.  1 7^^  i  K.  4^  &c. ;  the  moun- 
tainous interior  of  Central  Palestine,  from  the  Great  Plain  south  to 
the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem ;  see  note.  The  Israehtes  from 
the  neighbouring  parts  of  this  region  rose  at  Ehud's  call  and  has- 
tened down,  under  his  lead,  to  the  plain  of  Jericho.  —  28.  The 
first  half  verse  comes  rather  late  after  v.^'** ;  the  second,  they 
followed  him  down,  is  parallel  to  v.^'*'.  This  interruption  of  the 
natural  progress  of  the  story  is  commonly  ascribed  to  the  editor 
who  added  v.^^*^ ;  t  it  is  possible,  however,  that  v.^  is  the  original 
sequel  of  v.-^,  and  v.-'-^  of  v.-^,  which  would  give  us  two  complete 
and  parallel  accounts. — Follow  me  dozun]  %^  erroneously,  I>u7'sue 
me. —  They  seized  the  fords  of  the  Jordaji  against  Jhe  Moabites] 
thus  cutting  off  the  retreat  of  those  who  were  on  tfee  Israelite  side 
of  the  river ;  cf.  f^  1 2".  %     The  fords  here  meant  are  the  lowest 

*  That  this  requires  '3  12>'  (Winckler)  is  a  rash  assertion. 
fBu. 

X  Fl.  Jos.,  Ra.,  RLbG.,  Schm. ;  not  in  order  to  prevent  help  from  coming  from 
the  Moabite  side  (Ki.).     Cler.  combines  the  two  explanations. 


III.  27-29  103 

fords  of  the  Jordan,  near  Gilgal  (Jos.  2'  2  S.  19^'').*  Others  inter- 
pret, tlie  fords  leading  to  Moab,  the  Moahite  fords  ;  but  this  is  not 
distinctive,  for  all  the  lower  fords  of  the  Jordan  led  to  Moab,  and 
12^,  where  the  construction  is  the  same,  cannot  well  be  explained 
in  this  way.  —  29.  The  verse,  as  a  whole,  is  ascribed  by  Budde  to 
the  author  of  the  Deuteronomic  book  of  Judges ;  but  see  above 
on  v.-^.  —  l^en  thousand  men']  see  on  i'*.  —  All  stout  and  valiant 
me?i']  there  were  no  others  among  them ;  t  not,  every  stout  and 
valiant  man,  %  as  though  they  let  others  go,  in  conflict  with  the 
following,  not  one  escaped.  The  Moabites  are  represented  as  an 
army  of  occupation,  rather  than  as  settlers. 

27.  1X133  \T'i]  (gBPNOai.  ^  _^  ^^'5  ^^^  IcparfK,  a  natural  addition  if  the  resi- 
dence of  Eglon  was  supposed  to  be  east  of  the  Jordan  (cf.  Ra.).  It  is  conceiv- 
able, on  the  other  hand,  that  the  words  were  dropped  from  |^,  as  conflicting 
with  the  supposition  that  the  scene  of  Ehud's  deed  was  Jericho.  If  Seirah  had 
been  meant,  the  author  would  probably  have  written  nca'  1XU3;  if  Mt.  Ephraim, 
the  sentence  would  have  been  differently  arranged.  —  novi'D  yiT.M]  the  horn 
(KeparivT],  buccina  §)  as  a  signal  calling  men  to  arms,  Jud.  6^^  I  S.  13^  2  S.  20^; 
warning  of  approach  of  the  enemy,  Am.  3^  Ez.  t^-^  Jer.  4^  6^  &c.;  in  battle, 
Am.  2^;  sounding  the  recall,  2  S.  2^8  igi^  20^2.  On  the  form  and  fabrication 
of  the  sJwphar,  and  its  religious  uses,  see  C.  Adler,  PAOS.,  Oct.  1889,  p.  clxxi.; 
The  Shophar — its  Use  and  Oi-igin,  1894  (Rep.  of  U.  S.  Natl.  Museum  for 
1892,  p.  437-450). —  The  Highlands  of  Ephraim'\  the  mountains  which  form 
the  backbone  of  Central  and  Southern  Palestine  extend  from  the  Great  Plain 
southward,  gradually  increasing  in  elevation  to  the  vicinity  of  Hebron,  south 
of  which  they  fall  off,  the  hills  terminating  about  Tell  'Arad  and  Beersheba.  || 
The  northern  half  of  this  region  is  the  mountain  country  of  Ephraim,  occupied 
by  West  Manasseh,  Ephraim,  and  Benjamin;  the  southern,  the  mountain 
country  of  Judah.  There  is  no  natural  boundary  between  the  two;  the  limit 
shifted  with  the  southward  expansion  of  Joseph.  At  the  time  of  our  story  the 
territory  of  Joseph  was  separated  from  Judah  by  a  Canaanite  belt  of  which  Jeru- 
salem was  the  central  stronghold;  see  above,  p.  8.  —  28.  nns  iDin]  read  m 
(g  and  v.b;  2  K.  5^1  (Ba.)  is  not  parallel  to  this  use  of  f|Tn.  —  3X1?:'^]  equiva- 
lent to  a  tiativus  inconnnodi  ;  cf.  ^  3Xio  *?;',  Ba.,  Reuss.  Not  vada  Jordatiis 
quae  iransjnittunt  in  Moab  %,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Be.,  al.  ('n  Sx) ;  or  periphrasis  for 
a  second  genitive,  ras  5ia/3d(rets  tov  'lopddvov  ttjs  Mwa/S  ©S,  the  Moabite 
fords   of  the   Jordan.  —  29.    V^n  t^x  S31  ]T2ty  So]    |r;r   originally  *fat,'  then 

*  SWP.  Memoirs,  ill.  p.  170.  There  are  now  two  fords,  one  at  the  pilgrims' 
bathing  place  (Mahadet  IJagleh)  ;  the  other,  at  present  overgrown,  a  mile  or  more 
south  of  it.     The  former  must  always  have  been  the  main  crossing. 

t  AV.  +  RV.  §  Jerome  on  Hos.  58. 

II  Robinson,  P/i^yj.  G^i?^.,  p.  32-36. 


I04  JUDGES 

'robust,  vigorous.'      Others   interpret,  'rich,  great'   (Ki.   2°,   RLbG.,   Cler., 
al.),  a  familiar  metaphor,  but  an  inapposite  sense  in  this  place. 

30.  Moab  was  subdued^  8^^  ir^  (cf.  4-^)  i  S.  7^=^,  in  the  closing 
formulas  with  which  the  stories  of  the  several  judges  are  brought 
to  a  conclusion.  In  the  present  instance  the  results  of  Ehud's 
deed  seem  to  be  exaggerated.  The  story  itself  tells  only  of  the 
assassination  of  the  king  and  the  slaughter  of  the  Moabites  west 
of  the  Jordan,  clearing  the  land  of  Israel  of  these  intruders ;  of  a 
subjugation  of  Moab  it  gives  no  hint.  —  The  land  enjoyed  security 
eighty  years']  two  generations  ;  cf.  v."  above,  and  see  Introduction, 
§7- 

'ji  2NO  ;'j3ni]  Moab  was  subdued;  S^s  ii23  i  s.  f^  i  Chr.  20^  2  Chr.  13I8 
Ps.  106^2.  tiie  Niph.  is  passive  to  Hiph.  (2  S.  8^  =  i  Chr.  18I).  Not  to  be 
confounded  with  the  trop.  sense,  *  be  subdued  in  spirit,  submit '  to  the  judge- 
ments or  reproof  of  God  (Lev,  26'*^  i  K.  22^^  &c.).  The  phrase  belongs 
apparently  to  the  *' pre-Deuteronomic "  Book  of  Judges;  s&e  We.,  Co?np., 
p.  219;   controverted  by  Kitt.,  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  50. 

On  the  moral  aspects  of  Ehud's  deed  —  on  which  the  narrator 
in  Jud.  3  certainly  wasted  no  reflections  —  and  on  the  difficulties 
which  the  story  made  for  the  older  biblical  apologetics,  see 
Schmid,  qtmestiones  7-10:  Num  Ehud  Egloni  mentitus  est? 
Num  Eglonem  Ehud  decepit?  Licuitne  Ehudi  Eglonem  ty- 
rannum  occidere?  Quomodo  cum  impulsu  at  instinctu  divino 
conciliandum  est,  quod  Ehud  adeo  solicite  ad  caedem  Eglonis  se 
praeparavit,  tempus  atque  alia  circumspexit  atque  observavit?  — 
In  more  modern  fashion,  Bachmann,  p.  231  if. 

III.  31.  Shamgar  kills  six  hundred  Philistines  with  an  ox- 
goad.  —  Shamgar  is  often  reckoned  as  the  first  of  the  six  "  Minor 
Judges.'"^  The  verse  which  tells  his  brief  story  exhibits,  how- 
ever, none  of  the  distinctive  formulas  of  the  list  10^'^  •i2^-^^;t 
and,  what  is  more  conclusive,  Shamgar  is  not  embraced  with  them 
in  the  final  chronological  scheme  of  the  book ;  neither  the  period 
in  which  he  wrought  deliverance  for  Israel  nor  its  duration  is 
given.  %     Chapter  4^  (D)  ignores  Shamgar,  connecting  immedi- 

*  See  Introduction,  ^7.  f  See  on  loi. 

X  The  Jewish  explanation  is  that  he  died  in  the  first  year  of  his  office ;  FI.  Jos., 
Juchasin,  Abarb.,  a  Lap.,  al. 


in.  3(^31  105 

ately  with  3^*^  ("when  Ehud  was  dead").  It  is  to  be  inferred 
from  these  facts  that  the  story  of  Shamgar's  exploit  was  inserted 
here  by  a  hand  not  only  later  than  the  Deuteronomic  author  of 
3''"  4\  but  than  the  editor  who  introduced  the  "  Minor  Judges  " 
and  made  them  a  place  in  the  chronology.* 

After  him  came  Shamgar  ben  AnatJf^  Shamgar  is  named  in 
Jud.  5^,  where,  with  Jael,  he  represents  the  hour  of  Israel's  deepest 
humiliation  under  the  hand  of  its  foes,  just  before  the  appearance 
of  Deborah,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  is  a  historical 
figure.  The  story  of  the  slaughter  of  the  six  hundred  Philistines 
reminds  us  of  Samson,  but,  in  its  form,  still  more  of  the  exploits 
of  David's  heroes,  2  S.  21^^-"  23^^,1  and  is  very  likely  extracted 
from  the  same  or  a  similar  source.  The  name  Shamgar  is  foreign ; 
perhaps  Hittite.  Anath  is  a  goddess  of  whose  worship  there  are 
many  evidences  in  Palestine  in  names  of  places  which  were  seats 
of  her  cult,  \  and  whose  name  appears  on  Egyptian  monuments 
from  the  i8th  dynasty.  —  He  smote  the  Philistines^  all  the  evi- 
dence we  have  goes  to  show  that  the  Phihstines  did  not  seriously 
trouble  the  central  tribes  until  shortly  before  the  time  of  Saul ;  see 
above  on  3^  (p.  80).  The  Song  of  Deborah  celebrates  the  vic- 
torious issue  of  the  struggle  of  the  central  and  northern  tribes 
against  the  Canaanites,  who  in  the  days  of  Shamgar  (5'')  had 
brought  Israel  to  such  straits.  It  knows  nothing  of  a  contempo- 
raneous oppression  by  the  Philistines.  As  a  champion  of  Israel 
against  the  Philistines,  therefore,  Shamgar  appears  too  early.  §  — 
With  an  ox-goad']  ||  the  Syrian  ploughman's  goad  is  a  formidable 
weapon,  sometimes  eight  feet  long,  armed  at  one  end  with  a  spike, 
at  the  other  with  a  chisel-shaped  blade  for  cleaning  the  plough ; 
and  on  occasion  would  make  a  very  good  substitute  for  a  spear. 
But  the  six  hundred  men  have  always  taxed  the  credulity  of  the 
commentators,  who  have  had  recourse  to  various  rationalizing  sub- 
terfuges.   Clericus,  for  example,  explains  that  Shamgar  did  not  kill 

*  See  Ewald,  G  VI.  ii,  p.  514  (cf.  449)  =  HI.  ii.  p.  317;  No.,  Untersuch.,  p.  i8o; 
cf.  also  We.,  Comp.,  p.  217  f. ;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  166  (meant  to  replace  Abime- 
lech,  the  latest  addition  to  the  book).  f  We,,  Comp.,  p,  218  n. 

:j:  Beth-anath  in  Galilee,  Jud.  i33 ;  Beth-anoth  in  Judah,  Jos.  1559 ;  Anathoth 
near  Jerusalem  ;  the  modern  'Ainata  on  the  Lebanon  (see  above,  p.  52).         \  We. 

II  Bochart  adduces  in  illustration,  //.  vi.  132-135,  and  Nonnus,  Dionys.,  xx.  315  ff. ; 
cf.  Eustath.  on  //.,  U. 


106  JUDGES 

six  hundred  men  with  his  own  hand,  but  headed  a  peasants'  revolt 
in  which  so  many  PhiHstines  fell* — And  he  too  delivered  Israel^ 
see  on  2^^.  The  form  of  the  expression  of  itself  would  arouse  the 
suspicion  that  the  introduction  of  Shamgar  was  an  affeerthought.f 

Whether  Shamgar  is  the  original  hero  of  this  story  may  be  doubted; 
Jud.  5*^  certainly  suggests  no  such  deliverance.  The  similarity  of  the  exploit 
to  those  of  David's  Gibborim  has  been  often  observed  {e.g.  by  Schm.).  The 
resemblance  to  the  slaughter  of  the  Philistines  at  Lehi  by  Shammah  ben  Age 
(2  S.  23^1^)  is  particularly  striking;  and  the  conjecture  may  not  seem  too 
hazardous  that  the  feat  of  David's  comrade  has  been  ascribed,  perhaps  partly 
in  consequence  of  the  similarity  of  the  names,  to  the  Shamgar  of  5''',  of  whom 
nothing  was  known.  Cf.  also  Jud.  15^^^-  (Samson  at  Lehi).  With  the  name 
Shamgar  we  may  perhaps  compare  Sangar,  king  of  Gargamis  (then  the  chief 
city  of  the  Hittite  country)  in  the  days  of  Asurnasirpal  and  Salmanassar  II. 
(9th  cent.  B.C.) ;  %  cf.  also  Samgar-nebo  Jer.  39^.  There  was  a  kingdom  San- 
gara  on  the  upper  Tigris;  §  a  river  Sangarius  in  Asia  Minor  (//.  iii.  187,  xvi. 
719;  Strabo,  xii.  p.  543;  Ptol.,  v.  i,  6).  The  similarity  of  the  names  may  be 
purely  accidental;  on  the  other  hand  it  may  be  evidence  of  the  movements  of 
population  in  these  regions.  —  Anath'\  is  represented  in  an  Egyptian  stele  in 
the  British  Museum,  sitting,  holding  shield  and  javelin  in  the  right  hand, 
while  with  the  left  she  brandishes  a  battle  axe;l|  in  other  places  she  appears 
on  horseback  similarly  armed,^  or  sitting  upon  a  lion.**  That  she  was  espe- 
cially worshipped  by  the  Hittites  (E.  Meyer)  is  not  indisputable.  In  what 
relation  this  goddess  stands  to  the  Babylonian  Antu  is  not  certain;  see 
Schrader,  ZDMG,  xxvii.  p.  404,  and,  against  him,  E.  Meyer,  ib.  xxxi.  p.  716  ff. 
The  evidence  given  by  the  Amarna  tablets  of  long  and  profound  Babylonian 
influence  in  Palestine  at  an  early  period  makes  it  probable  that  they  are  not 
independent.ft  — The  form  of  the  name  njj?  p  -ijaii'  is  unusual;  the  conjecture 
that  it  is  abbreviated  for  nj>'  n^y  p  (Baethgen,  p.  141)  is  inadmissible  (No., 
ZDMG.  xlii.  479);  cf.  rather  -yyry  p.  —  np^n  iioSDn]  the  abs.  probably  nc^r,  a 
common  form  oinom.  instrum.,  Sta.  §  272  a,  cf.  Barth,  Nominalbildung,  p.  262. 
Descriptions  in  M.  Kelitn,  xxv.  2;  Wayyiqra  rab.,  §  29;  Abulw.,  quoting 
R.  Sherira;  Maundrell  (1697)  i^  Early  Travels  in  Pal..,  ed.  Wright,  1848, 
p.  475  f.;  Rob.,  BR"^.  iii.  62;  esp.  Schumacher,  "  Der  arab.  Pflug,"  ZDPV. 
xii.  p.  160  f.;   Post,  PEF.  Qu.  St.  1891,  p.  112-114. 

*  Similarly  a  Lyra,  al.  f  Bertheau. 

X  Tide,  Babyl.-Assyr.  Gesch.,  p.  175,  189  f.,  197  f.,  200  f. 

§  Frequently  mentioned  in  Egyptian  inscriptions;  W.  M.  Miiller,  Asien  u. 
Europa,  p.  279;  Erman,  Aegypten,  p.  682;  also  in  an  Amarna  letter,  PSD  A.,  June 
1888,  p.  569.  II  Wilkinson,  And.  Egypt.,  ed.  Birch,  iii.  p.  236. 

11  Lepsius,  Denkmaler,  Abth.  iii.  pi.  138. 
**  De  Vogiid",  Melanges  d'archcol.  orient.,  p.  47. 

ft  On  Anath  see  further,  De  Vogu6,  Jour.  Asiat.,  1867,  p.  125  ff.  =  Melanges 
d'archeol.  orient.,  41  ff. ;  Baethgen,  Beitrage,  52  f. 


in.  31-1V.  107 

IV.  Deborah  and  Barak  deliver  Israel  from  the  Canaanites ; 
the  defeat  and  death  of  Sisera. 

Literature,  —  G.  A,  Cooke,  The  History  and  Song  of  Deborah,  1892. 

The  Israelites  again  offend  Yahvveh,  who  gives  them  into  the 
power  of  Jabin,  the  Canaanite  king  of  Hazor,  and  Sisera,  his  gen- 
eral, for  twenty  years  (4^"').  Deborah,  a  prophetess,  instigates 
Barak  to  take  the  field  against  Sisera  (v."*-^).  He  raises  Zebulun 
and  Naphtali  and  occupies  Mt.  Tabor.  Sisera,  advancing  against 
him  through  the  plain,  is  attacked  and  routed,  and  his  army  cut  to 
pieces  (v.^*^-^*^) .  Sisera  escapes  on  foot  to  the  tent  of  Jael,  who 
conceals  him  in  the  tent  and  kills  him  while  he  sleeps  (v.^'"^^). 
Jabin  is  subdued  (v.-^^-). 

The  Song  of  Deborah,  ch.  5--^^  is  a  triumphal  ode,  celebrating 
the  victory  of  the  Israelites  under  the  lead  of  Deborah  and  Barak 
over  Sisera  and  the  kings  of  Canaan,  and  the  death  of  Sisera  by 
the  hand  of  Jael.  The  poem  is  in  places  obscure  or  unintelhgible, 
in  consequence  chiefly  of  corruption  of  the  text ;  but  its  general 
tenor  is  clear.  By  the  vividness  of  every  touch,  and  especially  by 
the  elevation  and  intensity  of  feeling  which  pervades  it,  it  makes 
the  impression  of  having  been  written  by  one  who  had  wit- 
nessed the  great  events  which  it  commemorates.*  The  prose 
narrative,  4^'-^,  also  gives  an  account  of  a  rising  of  Israelite  tribes 
instigated  by  Deborah  and  led  by  Barak,  and  of  the  defeat  and 
death  of  Sisera.  The  relation  of  this  narrative  to  the  Song  must 
be  our  first  inquiry. 

The  chief  points  of  difference  between  the  two  are  these:  i. 
In  the  poem  the  kings  of  Canaan  assemble  to  batde  (v.^'^). 
Sisera  is  evidently  at  their  head,  the  greatest  king  among  them 
(v.-'^).  In  his  palace  the  queen-mother,  whose  ladies-in-waiting 
are  princesses  (v.^^),  sits  expecting  his  return  (v.-^'^*^).t  In  the 
prose  narrative,  ch.  4,  Sisera  js  only  the  general  of  Jabin  king  of 
Hazor  (v.''-^^),  who  in  v.^-^-^  (D)  is  even  called  king  of  Canaan. 
2.  In  ch.  5  all  the  tribes  around  the  Great  Plain  —  Ephraim, 
Benjamin,  Machir  (Manasseh),  Issachar,  Zebulun,  NaphtaH  — 
join  in  the  struggle,  while  the  more  remote  tribes,  Dan,  Asher, 

*  See  Introduction  to  ch.  5,  below. 

t  In  V.30  some  find  mention  of  the  queen ;  see  comm.  there. 


I08  JUDGES 

and  even  Reuben  and  Gilead  beyond  the  Jordan,  are  bitterly 
reproached  for  selfishly  standing  aloof  from  the  cause  of  all  Israel. 
It  is  the  uprising  of  a  whole  people.  In  ch.  4,  on  the  other  hand, 
Barak  collects  a  force  of  ten  thousand  men  out  of  Zebulun  and 
Naphtali  only.*  3.  The  most  striking  difference  is  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  Sisera's  death.  In  4-^,  as  he  lies  fast  asleep  on  the  ground 
in  the  tent,  Jael  with  a  hammer  drives  a  tent-pin  through  his 
temples  into  the  earth.  In  5-'--",  on  the  contrary,  as  he  is.  stand- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  tent  drinking  milk  from  a  bowl,  Jael  strikes 
him  a  crushing  blow  on  the  head,  and  he  sinks  dead  at  her  feet.t 
Closer  examination  shoAvs  that  the  account  in  ch.  4  is  not 
entirely  self-consistent.  Jabin  king  of  Hazor,  or  of  Canaan,  has 
really  nothing  to  do  with  the  story ;  he  takes  no  part  in  the  strug- 
gle, and  only  reappears  in  v.^''  and  the  editor's  words  at  the  end. 
Sisera  is  here,  too,  the  real  protagonist ;  and  that  in  this  version 
of  his  story  also  he  was  originally  represented  as  a  king  is  clear 
from  the  fact  that  he  has  a  residence  city  of  his  own,  remote  from 
Hazor.  The  topographical  data  of  the  chapter  are  conflicting, 
and  make  it  impossible  to  form  a  consistent  conception  of  the 
battle  and  the  flight.  The  Israelites  assemble  at  Kedesh  in 
Naphtali,  as  if  for  an  attack  upon  Hazor ;  but  march,  peaceable 
and  unmolested,  by  the  gates  of  the  enemy's  capital  to  Mt.  Tabor. 
Sisera  advances  against  them  from  Harosheth  (v.^^) ,  and  the  battle 
takes  place  in  the  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  The  routed 
Canaanites  flee  toward-»Harosheth,  closely  followed  by  the  Israel- 
ites (v.^^').  Sisera  escapes  alone  on  foot  to  the  encampment  of 
Heber  the  Kenite  near  Kedesh  (v.^^'cl."),  many  hours  distant  to 
the  north,  with  Barak  in  hot  pursuit.  His  flight  took  him  straight 
through  the  territory  of  the  tribes  which  were  in  arms,  and  past 
the  very  doors  of  his  master's  city.  Why  did  he  not  take  refuge 
within  its  walls  rather  than  in  the  tent  of  a  nomad  ? 

*  In  5I5  it  seems  that  both  Deborah  and  Barak  belong  to  Issachar;  while  in 
ch.  4  Deborah's  home  is  in  the  heart  of  Mt.  Ephraim,  and  Barak's  at  Kedesh  in 
Naphtali.  The  text  of  5I5,  however,  is  too  insecure  to  permit  us  to  lay  great  stress 
upon  this. 

t  See  in  general,  We.,  Hist,  of  Israel,  p.  240-242 ;  Cotnp.,  p.  220-223 ;  Sta.,  G  F/2. 
i.  p.  178 ;  Kue.,  HCO^.  i.  p.  345  f. ;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  104-106 ;  Co.,  Einl\ 
P- 93-95;  W.  R.  Smith,  OTJC^.,  p.  132;  Wildeboer,  Letterkunde  des  Ouden  Ver- 
bonds,  p.  35-3^. 


IV.  109 

These  inconcinnities  probably  result,  at  least  in  part,  from  the 
combination  of  two  narratives  ;  one  an  account  of  a  war  waged  by 
Zebulun  and  Naphtali  against  Jabin  of  Hazor,  the  other  of  the  war 
with  Sisera  king  of  Harosheth  and  his  alhes  which  is  the  subject  of 
the  Song  of  Deborah.  The  t^vo  have  been  superficially  harmo- 
nized at  the  most  essential  point  by  making  Sisera  the  general  of 
Jabin.  An  analysis  of  the  chapter  is  scarcely  possible  ;  nor  can 
we  say  what  common  feature  led  to  the  incongruous  union. 

The  analysis  is  attempted  by  Bruston,  «  Les  deux  Jehovistes,"  Revue  de 
Thhl  et  Philos.,  1886,  p.  35  f.  (quoted  by  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  70  n.)  as 
follows:  to  the  first  Jehovist  he  ascribes  .  .  .  42b/3. 3ba. 4-9  (with  minor  traces  of 
redaction  in  \J-  »)  ^^""^^  ^- 1--^^*^-  ^^  S^'^^^J  to  the  second,  4!- 2a,  ba- 3b^.  Sa  [words 
corresponding  to  f- 1^]  lo^a.  n  [defeat  of  Canaanites  at  Kedesh]  i^b.  17-24  ^3ib. 
—  If  v.i'b  is  not  an  editorial  addition,  Heber  must  belong  to  the  story  of  Jabin 
(Bu.,  Co.),  and  as  Jael  unquestionably  belongs  to  that  of  Sisera,  it  might  be 
conjectured  that  in  making  her  Heber's  wife  the  writer  who  combined  the 
two  stories  had  attempted  to  harmonize  them  by  an  artifice  similar  to  that  by 
which  Sisera  was  made  Jabin's  general;  and  it  might  be  further  surmised 
that  in  the  original  story  Jabin  met  at  the  tents  of  Heber  a  fate  like  that 
which  overtook  Sisera  at  the  hand  of  Jael.     But  all  this  is  mere  conjecture. 

The  war  of  Zebulun  and  Naphtali  against  Jabin,  king  of  Hazor, 
and  his  alhes  is  recounted  in  Jos.  11^"^  where  it  is  magnified  into 
the  conquest  of  all  the  northern  Canaanites  by  Joshua  and  all 
Israel,  in  the  same  way  in  which  the  victory  of  Judah  and  Simeon 
over  Adoni-zedek  (Adoni-bezek)  of  Jerusalem  (Jud.  i"^')  is  elabo- 
rated in  Jos.  10  into  the  account  of  Joshua's  conquest  of  all 
Southern  Canaan.  We  may  surmise  that  the  story  of  Jabin,  of 
which  we  have  the  fragmentary  remains  in  Jud.  4  Jos.  11,  came 
from  the  same  source  from  which  Jud.  i  and  the  kindred  frag- 
ments in  Jos.  were  derived  (J).*  Too  little  is  left  of  it  to  make  a 
reconstruction  possible ;  but  it  is  a  not  improbable  conjecture  that 
in  its  original  connexion  this  story  formed  a  chapter  in  the  account 
of  the  conquest  of  Northern  Canaan,  corresponding  to  the  taking 
of  Hebron  by  Caleb  and  of  Bethel  by  Joseph,  the  positive  com- 
plement of  Jud.  1=^-^.  The  story  of  Sisera  in  ch.  4,  after  the 
elimination  of  the  elements  derived  from  that  of  Jabin,  gives  us  a 
number  of  details  which  are  not  found  in  ch.  5  ;  viz.,  the  name  of 


*  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  ^ain.,  p.  66  ff. 


I  lO  JUDGES 

Deborah's  husband,  Lapidoth;  her  home,  between  Bethel  and 
Ramah;*  Barak's  father's  name,  Abinoam,  and  his  residence, 
Kedesh  in  Naphtali ;  t  Sisera's  city,  Harosheth  ha-goyim ;  his 
chariotry ;  the  position  of  the  Israehtes  before  the  action,  at 
Tabor.  In  the  description  of  Sisera's  end  there  is  both  a  close 
resemblance  and  a  striking  difference  between  the  two  versions. 
Wellhausen,  $  W.  R.  Smith,  §  and  others  think  that  4-^  originated 
in  a  prosaic  misunderstanding  of  5-*^  (see  comm.  on  the  w.).  It 
would  not  follow,  however,  that  ch.  4  is  merely  a  bald  prose  ver- 
sion of  ch.  5.11  Dependence  on  the  poem,  in  this  and  other 
particulars,  does  not  exclude  the  use  of  other  sources  of  tradition, 
from  which  the  details  mentioned  above  may  have  been  derived ; 
and  there  is  no  substantial  reason  to  doubt  that  the  basis  of  ch.  4 
is  an  old  prose  story  of  Sisera,  which,  though  not  rivalling  the 
Song  of  Deborah  in  antiquity,  is  not  conspicuously  inferior  to 
the  other  stories  in  the  book. 

It  is  an  interesting  question,  and  one  the  solution  of  which, 
if  it  could  be  reached,  would  be  of  considerable  importance, 
whether  the  prose  narrative  was  originally  prefixed  to  the  Ode  as 
an  introduction,  perhaps  in  such  a  collection  as  the  Sepher 
ha-yashar,  in  the  manner  familiar  to  us  in  the  great  Arab  col- 
lections. There  are  no  very  decisive  considerations  on  either 
side ;  on  the  whole,  the  impression  which  ch.  4  makes  upon  me 
is  unfavourable  to  this  hypothesis.  From  what  source  the  story  of 
Sisera  in  ch.  4  is  derived  can  hardly  be  determined.^F  It  is  intro- 
duced in  the  usual  way  (4^-^)  ;  the  close  is  found  in  4^^- ;  the 
chronological  note,  naturally,  in  5^"^-. 

1-3.  The  Israelites  again  offend  Yahweh;  he  gives  them 
into  the  power  of  Jabin,  king  of  Canaan,  who  cruelly  oppresses 
them  for  twenty  years.  —  The  regular  introduction ;  the  stories  of 


*  This  trait  is,  however,  probably  introduced  by  a  later  hand ;  see  on  v.5. 

t  Perhaps  this,  too,  is  an  error.  X  Comp.,  p.  222. 

^  OTJC^.,  p.  132;  Sta.,  GF/2.  i.  p.  178  n. 

II  "  Eine  Reproduction,  die  die  speziellen  Ziige  verwischt  und  verfalscht ;  "  We., 
Prol"^.,  p.  251.  —  The  converse  opinion  of  Vernes  and  others,  that  the  poem  is 
derived  from  the  prose  narrative,  see  below,  Introduction  to  ch.  5. 

H  For  E  we  might  point  to  ns^3j  ni-'N  v.^  (cf.  Holzinger,  Einl.  in  den  Hexatcuch, 
p.  209  f.),  and  "«''-.  DHii  v.16  (i  S.  7I0  &c.) 


\ 


IV.   1-3  ITI 

Jabin  and  Sisera  are  combined  and  harmonized  by  making  Sisera 
the  general  of  Jabin.  —  1.  Cf.  2"  3'-  'I  —  Ehud  being  dead^  post- 
poned circumstantial  clause,  introducing  a  fact  essential  to  the 
understanding  of  the  situation.*  The  author's  theory  is  that  the 
judges  restrained  the  people  from  displeasing  Yahweh  as  long  as 
they  lived;  cf.  3"  and  2^^  (in  contrast  to  2^^).  Observe  that 
Shamgar  is  ignored  ;  the  verse  connects  immediately  with  ^^,  just 
as  3'^  does  with  3^^  —  2.  Yahweh  sold  them']  2^^. — Jabin,  the 
king  of  Canaafi,  who  reigned  in  Hazo?-]  the  tendency  to  turn  the 
history  of  the  Israelite  tribes  into  the  history  of  the  Israelitish 
nation,  which  is  conspicuous  in  the  editing  of  the  book,t  shows 
itself  in  the  transformation  of  Jabin  king  of  Hazor  (v.^''  Jos.  11^) 
into  the  king  of  Canaan  (v.^^"^)  ;  here  the  two  are  harmonized, 
Jabin  the  king  of  Ca7iaan,  who  7'eigned,  i.e.,  had  his  capital  (Jos. 
13^2.21^^  1^  j^^zo?'.  —  Hazor]  has  not  been  certainly  identified;  it 
must  be  looked  for  not  far  from  Kedesh.  %  Robinson  fixed  on 
Tell  Khureibeh,  about  an  hour  south  of  Kedesh ;  §  Wilson  ||  and 
Gu^rin^  prefer  Khirbet  Harreh,  the  ruins  of  a  fortified  place 
about  the  same  distance  SE.  of  Kedesh,  overlooking  the  Hiileh ; 
Conder  and  others  would  recognize  the  name  in  its  Arabic  equiva- 
lent, Gebel  Hadireh,  three  miles  SSW.  of  Kedesh,  a  little  vv^est  of 
the  modern  village  of  Deishiin.**  —  His  general  was  Sisera]  in 
this  way  the  story  of  Sisera  is  harmonized  with  that  of  Jabin; 
see  above,  p.  108  f.  Sisera  did  not  reside  in  his  master's  capital, 
Hazor,  but  had  a  city  of  his  own  like  an  independent  king.-f-j-  — 
Harosheth  ha-goyim]  v.^^-^^  Now  generally  identified  with 
el-Harithiyeh,  in  the  narrows  of  the  Kishon  valley  at  the  western 
end  of  the  Great  Plain;  see  on  v.^l  —  3.  v.%  see  f.  —  Ni?ie 
hundr-ed  iron  chariots]  v}^  i^^;  by  means  of  them  he  kept  com- 
mand of  the  plain;  Jos.  17"^^-^^  (J).     Thothmes  III.  counts  nine 

*  Dr3.  §  159;  Ges.25  §  141.  2,  n.  2;  \  156.  i.  2.  f  See  above,  p.  90. 

X  Cf.  2  K.  1529  Jos.  I935ff-  I  Mace.  ii67 ;  Masius  on  Jos.  iii, 
\  BR^.  iii.  p.  364-366. 

II  Jour.  Sacred  Lit.,  1866,  p.  245 ;  see  SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  237  f. 
H  Galilee,  iii.  p.  363  ff. ;  so  also  Di. 

**  See  DB'^.  s.  v. ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  204;    Schiirer,  GjV.  i.  p.  185  n. ;    BadS. 
p.  264. 

ft  The  text  cannot  mean  that  Jabin   lived  at  Harosheth   (Thdt.,  Ki.,  al. ;    v. 
Drus.). 


112  JUDGES 

hundred  and  twenty-four  chariots  among  the  spoils  of  his  victory 
in  the  battle  of  Megiddo.*  —  He  oppressed  Israel  c-ruelly  for 
iwejity  years']  half  a  generation. 

2.  The  name  Hazor  appears  in  the  list  of  Thothmes  III.  (No.  32)  and  in 
the  Papyrus  Anastasi  (Miiller,  Asiejt  u.  Etcropa,  p.  173);  also  in  the  Amarna 
despatches.  It  was  fortified  by  Solomon  (i  K.  91^),  as  a  place  of  command- 
ing importance  in  Upper  Galilee,  and  captured  by  Tiglath  Pileser  (734  B.C.; 
'2  K.  IS''^-')-  The  most  definite  clue  for  the  determination  of  the  site,  is  given 
by  I  Mace,  ii^^a,  of.  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  xiii.  5,  6  f.  §  154-162;  v.  5,  i  §  199. 
Extensive  ruins  at  Tell  Harreh  show  that  it  was  once  a  place  of  considerable 
size  and  strength;  those  at  Tell  el-Khureibeh  are  less  important;  at  Gebel 
Hadireh  none  have  been  discovered.  The  last-named  site  perhaps  best  agrees 
with  the  indications  in  i  Mace.  No  great  stress  can  be  laid  on  the  similarity 
of  the  name;  for  hadireh  is  a  common  Arabic  appellative  ('  sheepfold,  pen'). 
—  The  relation  of  the  Jabin  of  our  text  to  the  one  in  Jos.  1 1,  and  the  question 
how  Hazor,  which  was  totally  destroyed  by  Joshua,  is  here  again  the  centre 
of  the  Canaanite  power  in  the  north,  are  much  discussed  by  older  commenta- 
tors beginning  with  Thdt.  (^qzi.  10).  The  common  solution  is,  that  Hazor  had 
been  rebuilt  (Thdt.,  a  Lyra,  a  Lap.,  Masius,  Schm.,  Cler.,  al.  mu.),  and  that 
the  Jabin  here  named  was  a  successor,  and  probably  descendant,  of  the  Jabin 
of  Jos.  II.  The  title  kijig  of  Canaan  gives  a  good  deal  of  trouble  to  the 
conscientious  old  commentator  Schmid,  who  justly  observes  that  Canaan  was 
not  a  political  unity,  under  one  king;  cf.  also  Cler.  —  niD'D]  the  form  of  the 
name  is  not  Canaanite,  and  probably  not  Semitic;  we  may  perhaps  compare  the 
numerous  Hittite  names  ending  in  -sij'a  {IJiasiray  Maurasira,  &c.,  Miiller, 
Asien  u.  Etiropa,  p.  332).  It  is  found  also  in  the  list  of  Nethinim  (native 
temple-slaves)  Ezra  2°^  Neh.  7^^.  —  nprns]  8^  i  S.  216  Ez.  34*. 

4,  5.  Deborah.  —  4.  The  verse  belongs  to  the  old  story  of 
Sisera.  Deborah  was  the  moving  spirit  in  the  Israelite  rising 
which  overthrew  Sisera  (^7.12.15  ^6.9f.  14^^  —  ^  prophetess]  in  the 
older  sense  of  the  word,  an  inspired  woman;  cf.  Ex.  15^*^. 
Impelled  by  the  spirit  of  Yahweh,  she  roused  her  countrymen  to 
fight  (4^'*^^  5^-),  and  in  his  name  promised  them  victory.  We  may 
compare  the  German  Veleda,  who  instigated  and  supported 
Civilis  in  the  attempt  to  throw  off  the   Roman  yoke,t  and,  in 


*  Brugsch,  Gesch.  Aegyptens,  1877,  p.  303. 

t  Ea  virgo  nationis  Bructerae  late  imperitabat,  vetere  apud  Germanos  more, 
quo  plerasque  feminarum  fatidicas,  et,  augescente  superstitione,  arbitrantur  deas. 
Tuncque  Veledae  auctoritas  adolevit ;  nam  prospcras  Gerrnanis  res  et  excidium 
legionum  praedixerat.     Tac.,  hist.,  iv.  61,  cf.  Germ.  8. 


IV.  3-5  113 

more  modem  times,  Joan  of  Arc*  —  Wife  of  Lapidoth']  cf.  2  K. 
22"  Ex.  15-*^  Lu.  2^'^'.     The  name  has  given  occasion  to  all  manner 
of  conceits,  among  which  we  need  only  mention  that  which  finds 
in  Lapidoth  ('  torches,  flashes  '  f)  another  name  of  Barak  (*  light- 
ning ').X—lVas  fudging  Israel^  so  the  verb  is  interpreted  in  v.^ ; 
the  latter  verse  is,  however,  secondary.     In  the  connexion  of  the 
original  narrative  (v.''- '"')  we  should  render,  in  accordance  with  the 
constant  usage  of  the  book,  she  delivered  Israel,  vindicated  it ;  j 
see  on  3^".  —  5.    A  circumstantial  addition  by  a  latter  editor,  who  j 
took  the  verb  in  v.'*  in  the  sense  of  'judge,  give  judicial  decisions,'/ 
describing  the  way  in  which  she  exercised  her  judicial  functions  :* 
she  did  not,  like  Samuel  (i  S.  7'^'§)»go  on  a  circuit,  but  the 
Israelites  from  all  quarters  resorted  to  her  at  her  home.  —  She 
used  to  sit  under  the  Deborah  Palm']  as  arbitress,  to  settle  dis- 
putes (v.'^  cf.  I   S.  2  2*^).  II     Others,  she  dwelt  under  it  (cf.  2   K. 
22^*)  ;«[[  but  it  is  unlikely  that  the  author  represented  even  the 
prophetess-judge  as  having  her  house  or  tent  beneath  the  holy 
tree.     There  was  a  Tomb  of  Deborah  below  Bethel  (Gen.  35^  E), 
where,  according  to  the  ancestral  legend,  Deborah  the  nurse  of 
Rebekah  was  buried.     The  name  of  the  Mourning  Tree  (Allon- 
bacuth)  under  which  it  stood  was  explained  of  the  mourning  for 
Deborah.     This   tree   is    in   all   probability  the    same   with   the 
Deborah  Palm,**  the  origin  of  whose  name  the  writer  evidently 
connects  with  Deborah,  the  prophetess  and  judge.     This  associa- 
tion of  names  is  probably  responsible  for  the  idea  that  Deborah's 
home  was  in  the  heart  of  the  mountains  of  Ephraim.     From  5^^ 
it  would  appear  that  she  was  of  the  tribe  of  Issachar ;  and  both 
ch.  4  and  5.  naturally  lead  us  to  think  that  her  home  was  in  or 
near  the  plain  of  Jezreel.     The  conjecture  is  then  not  remote  that 
it  was  at  Daberath  (Aa/?apw(9,  Aa/3eipa)  Jos.  19^-  2i-«,  the  modern 


*  Paulus,  Reville,  Cass.  t  Of  lightning,  Ex.  20I8. 

+  The  identification  is  ancient  midrash ;   see  Yalqut,  Ki.,  RLbG.,  old  Cath. 
comm. ;  recently  Hilliger,  cf.  We.,  Bu.,  Cooke. 

§  These  verses  seem  to  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  v.is  in  which  Jud.  48  does 
to  V  4.  II  So  RLbG..  Abarb.,  Cler.,  Reuss,  al. 

•nKi..  Schm.,  a  Lap.,  Stud.,  Ba.;  Ke.,  Be.  confusedly  combine  the  two  inter- 
pretations. 

**  Abarb.,  Tuch,  Ew.,  De.,  Di.     Ew.  plausibly  combines  it  also  with  the  Tabor 

Tree  of  i  S.  io3  ( G  VI.  iii.  p.  31). 


IT4  JUDGES 

Deburiyeh  at  the  western  foot  of  Tabor.  The  similarity  of  the 
names  is  at  least  striking.*  —  Between  Ramah  and  Bethel']  in  the 
same  region  in  which  Samuel  afterwards  judged  Israel  (i  S.  7^^^). 
The  Benjamite  Ramah  is  meant ;  the  modern  er-Ram,  two  hours 
north  of  Jerusalem.!  On  Bethel  see  on  i^^.  —  The  Israelites 
went  up  to  her  for  justice]  to  have  their  causes  decided  in 
accordance  with  the  common  law  of  Israel. 

4.  Deborah']  in  Heb.  means '  Bee  ';  cf.  the  Greek  name  M^Xtcro-a.  %  Animal 
names  of  women  are  not  uncommon  in  the  O.T.;  Ba.  collects  the  following: 
Zipporah  (little  bird),  Hoglah  (grouse),  Hulclah  (weasel),  Eglah  (heifer), 
Rachel  (ewe),  Jael  (wild-goat).  —  hnuj  ntrvs]  cf.  xoj  tr'iN  6^,  >h  v^'H  19I  20"^, 
p3  c^N  Lev.  21^  njn  n^'N  Jud.  iii  16I,  ^xh^St  nt^N  19I,  hjdSn  nt:'N.2  S.  14^  &c. 
(cf.  Engl,  colloq.,  *  widow  woman '),  nSina  n-i;?j,  &c.  Apposition  of  genus  and 
species,  Ges.-^  §  131.  2  «.  The  other  prophetesses  named  in  the  O.T.  are 
Miriam  (Ex.  15'-^^),  Huldah  (2  K.  22!^),  Noadiah  (Neh.  61*);  cf.  Anna, 
Luke  2^"^.  Megillah,  \^  enumerates  seven.  —  nnisS  na'N]  the  only  natural 
interpretation  is  that  which  takes  "?  as  the  name  of  Deborah's  husband  (cf. 
2  K.  22I*) .  Men's  names  with  fem.  endings  are  not  uncommon  in  the  O.T. ; 
cf.  Naboth,  i  K.  211^-.  The  translation,  ein  Weib  von  Feuej-geist  (Cass.; 
similarly  Ar.  Montanus,  Fr.  Bo.,  al.)  is  pure  midrash ;  cf  Megillah,  i^, 
Yalqtit,  in  loc,  and  the  Rabb.  commentators.  —  ntopc'  ^'^■^]  ilH  and  apparently 
all  verss.,  judicabat ;  and  this  interpretation  is  presupposed  by  v.^.  If,  how- 
ever, the  verb  is  synonymous  with  y"'!:'in  as  in  2}^-^^  -^^  lo^f-  (see  on  3I0), 
which  was  no  doubt  the  meaning  in  the  original  connexion,  we  require  not 
the  ptcp.,  but  the  histor.  pf ,  'Ji  ntOQu*  n-'H.  —  x-'n  resuming  the  subject  after  the 
two  appositive  phrases;  cf  Gen.  312  Jud.  7*  &c.  —  5.  nad"'  x^ni]  the  words 
admit  either  interpretation,  sat  or  dwelt ;  for  the  first  cf  6II  I  S.  14^  i  K.  13I* 
1 9"*;  for  the  second,  Jud.  ^  iqI  i  K.  5^  2  K.  22"  &c.  (Ba.).  Doubtless  the 
author  meant  that  her  home  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  holy  tree.  — 
nnm  idh  nnn]  Verss.,  tmder  Deborah's  palm,  r\-\'\y^  ncn  :  §  iJH  •y^t\  (Jer.  lo^  ^). 
The  intention  of  this  pronunciation  and  accentuation  H  is  not  manifest.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  "i!2h  is  a  collective,  *  palm  grove '  (Bo.,  i.  p.  458  f.).  %  has 
some  other  curious  information  about  Deborah;  she  lived  in  'Ataroth  of 
Deborah,^  had  palm  trees  at  Jericho,  gardens  at  Ramah,  &c.;  cf.  also 
Megillah,  14a.  —  Ramah]  lay  on  the  road  north  from  Jerusalem  beyond 
Gibeah  (19^^^-),  and  is  elsewhere  named  in  connexion  with  Gibeon  and  Becrotli 

*  On  Deburiyeh  see  SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  363,  Cf.  Niebuhr,  Reconstellation  des 
Deboraliedes,  p.  ii  f. 

t  Rob.,  Dli^.  i.  576;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  199-204;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ill.  p.  13. 

X  Freq.  title  name  of  priestesses  of  Demeter,  Rhea,  Artemis. 

\  The  constr.  of  ir;n  does  not  occur  in  the  O.T, 

II  With  the  disjunctive  cf.  Gen.  14I3  ;  Wickes,  Prose  Accents,  p.  50  f. 

H  Modern  'Atara,  midway  betweep  er-Ram  an4  eJvJ3ireh.  ,,.  <■ 


IV.  5-7  115 

(Jos.  1 825),  Mizpeh  and  Geba  (i  K.  isSW-  Is.  io29).  See  also  Fl.  Jos.,  antt. 
viii.  12,  3  §  303;  OS'^.  2871;  Jerome,  Comm.  in  Hos.  58;  in  Sophon.  i^^f-.  It 
was  rightly  identified  with  er-Ram  by  Brocardus  (ca.  1283),  Descriptio,  etc., 
c.  7;  Eshtori  Parchi  (fol.  68'^),  and  other  mediDeval  Jewish  travellers.  —  tOD'^'oS] 
on  the  various  senses  of  this  word  see  Batten,  JBL.  xi.  p.  206-210. 

6-9.  Deborah  calls  on  Barak  to  take  the  field  against 
Sisera.  —  6.  The  original  sequel  of  v.''.  —  Barak  ben  Abt?ioa?n'] 
the  name  Barak  (Lightning)  occurs  in  Palmyrene  and  Sabaean 
inscriptions,  as  well  as  among  the  Carthaginians  (Barcas) .  —  From 
Kedesh  in  Naphtali^^  Jos.  19^'';  "in  GaHlee,  in  the  Highlands  of 
Naphtali "  (20^)  ;  the  modern  Qades,  west  of  the  Hiileh.*  This  is, 
as  has  been  remarked  above,  a  natural  rendezvous  for  a  rising 
against  Jabin  of  Hazor,  but  hardly  for  a  campaign  against  the 
Canaanites  in  the  Great  Plain ;  and  makes  insuperable  difficulties 
in  the  account  of  Sisera's  flight.  —  Doth  not  Yahweh,  the  God  of 
Israel,  co?nmand  thee  ?~\  now,  by  me,  his  prophet.  The  question 
which  compels  the  hearer  himself  to  make  the  affirmation  is  more 
forcible  than  the  affirmation  of  the  speaker ;  cf.  v.^^  6^'^  Jos.  i^  i  S. 
10^  &c.  —  Yahweh  the  God  of  Israel']  5^-^  6^  jj2i.23  ^^z  ^^^  ^^ 
5^  34"'^  Jos.  24^-^  Is.  17^  21^'',  frequent  in  Jer.f  —  Ma?rh  on  Mt. 
Tabor]  Tabor  (8^^),  now  Gebel  et-Tor,  is  at  the  head  of  the 
northern  arm  of  the  Great  Plain,  the  southern  end  of  a  low  range 
of  hills.  It  is  a  symmetrical,  pounded  mountain  (A.o<^o9  fxaaroebS-qq, 
Polyb.,  V.  70),  presenting  from  the  south  the  aspect  of  a  segment 
of  a  sphere,  from  the  north  that  of  a  truncated  cone.  The 
summit  is  an  oblong  platform  nearly  three  thousand  feet  from 
east  to  west,  and  about  thirteen  hundred  in  its  greatest  trans- 
verse diameter.  Its  situation  and  natural  strength  made  it  a 
most  advantageous  position  for  the  Israelites  in  a  war  with 
the  Canaanites  of  the  Plain.  |  —  Ten  thousand  men  of  Naphtali 
and  Zebuliin]  that  the  levy  is  made  from  these  tribes  rather  than 
from  those  nearer  to  the  plain,  and  from  these  only,  in  contrast 
with  ch.  5,  would  agree  better  with  the  story  of  Jabin  than  with 
that  of  Sisera.  —  7.   And  I  will  draw  out  to  thee]  Yahweh,  by  his 


*  Rob.,  DR^.  iii.  p.  366-369;  Gu6rin,  Galilee,  ii.  p.  355-362;  SWP.  Memoirs,  i. 
p.  226-230 ;  Bad3.  p,  264.  t  Not  in  Amos  or  Hosea. 

X  See  Burckhardt,  Travels  in  Syria,  1822,  p,  332-335  ;  Rob.,  DR"^.  ii.  p.  351-360; 
Gu6rin,  Galilee,  i.  p.  143-163;  SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  388-391. 


1 16  JUDGES 

prophet,  promises  to  lead  the  enemy  on  to  his  ruin;  cf.  Ex.  14^ 
Sisera's  march  from  Harosheth  against  the  Israelites  at  Tabor 
would  bring  him  into  the  valley  of  the  Kishon  (v.^^),  whose 
streams,  swollen  perhaps  by  a  sudden  flood,  turned  defeat  into 
disaster  (5^^).  On  the  field  of  battle,  see  on  4^^  and  5-^ — Jalmi's 
ge?ie?'al~\  the  words,  and  the  corresponding  clause,  v.^'*',  are  not 
an  interpolation  by  D  or  a  still  later  hand  ;  *  but  were  introduced 
by  the  older  editor  who  combined  the  stories  of  Jabin  and  Sisera.| 
See  above,  p.  109.  The  title  here  used  is  given  in  the  history  of 
the  Israelite  kingdoms  to  an  officer  who  was  at  the  head  of  what 
we  should  call  the  national  militia.  He  was  charged  with  the 
enumeration  and  enrollment  of  the  men  Uable  to  military  service 
(2  S.  24-),  raised  the  levies  when  war  broke  out,  and  commanded 
them  in  the  absence  of  the  king  (^e.g.  2  S.  11).  The  same  sys- 
tem doubtless  existed  in  the  neighbouring  states,  for  example,  in 
Aram-zobah  (2  S.  10^^),  Aram  (2  K.  5^),  J  &c.  —  His  chariot  corps 
and  his  troops']  the  common  mass  of  footmen  in  distinction  from 
the  chariot  corps,  which  was  composed  of  men  of  rank  and  wealth 
who  were  trained  in  arms.  —  8.  Barak  accepts  the  commission  only 
on  condition  that  Deborah  accompany  him  into  the  field.  The 
presence  of  the  prophetess  will  not  only  ensure  to  him  divine 
guidance  (v.^^),  but  give  confidence  to  him  and  his  followers. — 
9.  Deborah  answers  that  she  will,  of  course,  go  with  him ;  but 
forewarns  him  that  the  chief  glory  of  the  victory  will  not  fall  to 
him,  but  to  a  woman.  —  Howbeit  thou  wilt  not  gain  the  glory  in  the 
expedition  on  which  thou  ai't  going]  the  rendering  of  our  version, 
the  journey  .  .  .  shall  not  be  for  thine  honour,  suggests,  if  it 
does  not  distinctly  express,  a  sense  quite  foreign  to  the  text ; 
Deborah  was  not  dissuading  him  from  going.  —  Into  the  power  of 
a  wonian]  not  Deborah,  as  numerous  scholars  understand,  §  influ- 
enced partly  by  an  erroneous  interpretation  of  this  verse,  partly 
by  ch.  5,  in  which  the  fame  of  Deborah  does  indeed  eclipse  that 
of  Barak ;  but  Jael,  ||  as  is  quite  clear  in  the  sequel  of  the  story, 

*  Be.,  Di.  t  Kue.,  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  67,  107. 

t  Cf.  also  Gen.  2122. 32  2626  (Philistines  of  Gerar).    See  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  276. 

^  Jerome  {ep.  65,  i),  Ki.,  Abendana,  Cler.,  Hitz.,  Reuss. 

II  Orig.,  Ambros.,  Ephrem,  Tanch.,  Schm.,  Ba.,  Be.,  Ke.  Unsatisfactory  fusion 
or  confusion  of  the  two  interpretations,  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  5,  3  ^  203  cl.  §  209 ;  RLbG., 
Abarb.,  Cass..  Oettli. 


IV.  7-9  117 

4'^^-.  The  words  of  Deborah  are  generally  understood  to  be  a 
reproof  of  Barak's  lack  of  faith  and  courage.  Instead  of  accept- 
ing with  alacrity  the  divine  mandate,  he  insisted  that  she,  a 
woman,  should  take  the  field  with  him ;  as  a  penalty,  the  glory 
which  he  should  have  gained  by  the  death  of  Sisera  is  taken  from 
him  and  given  to  a  woman.*  This  interpretation  is  not,  however 
required  by  the  text  or  suggested  by  the  context,  in  which  there  is 
no  sign  of  disapproval.  That  Sisera  did  not  fall  on  the  field,  but 
was  killed  in  his  flight  by  Jael,  was  a  well-established  feature  of 
the  story  ;  it  is  natural  that  the  author  should  make  the  prophetess 
foretell  this  at  the  outset,  and  unnecessary  to  construe  the  pre- 
diction as  even  an  impKcit  condemnation.  It  is  not  at  all  clear 
that  the  writer  regarded  Barak's  urgent  desire  to  have  the  proph- 
etess with  him  as  blameworthy.  —  She  went  with  Barak  to  Kedesh~\ 
where  he  mustered  his  clans.  As  the  story  now  stands,  she 
accompanied  him  from  the  vicinity  of  Bethel  to  Kedesh  in 
Naphtah,  a  journey  of  four  or  five  days.  There  is  no  great 
intrinsic  improbabiUty  in  this;  but  it  is  very  likely,  on  other 
grounds,  that  in  the  original  form  of  the  narrative  the  homes  of 
the  two  leaders  were  not  so  far  apart. 

6.  Kedesh  of  Naphtali  f]  also  called  Kedesh  of  Galilee,  to  distinguish  it 
from  other  places  of  the  same  name  (Kadesh  or  Kedesh,  i.e.  Holy  Place). 
Kadesh  on  the  Orontes  has  already  been  mentioned  (see  on  3^).  i  Chr.  6^'^ 
(EV.  6' 2),  in  a  list  of  Levitical  cities,  names  a  Kedesh  in  Issachar,  in  con- 
junction with  Daberath  (Deburiyeh);  and  We.  (^Comp.,  p.  221)  and  others 
have  conjectured  that  in  the  redaction  of  our  story  this  has  been  confused 
with  the  more  famous  place  of  the  name  in  Naphtali;  but  the  corresponding 
list  in  Jos.  21^8  (cf.  19-'')  gives  the  name  Kishion.  There  is  a  Tell  Abii 
Qudeis  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Great  Plain,  midway  between  Ta'annuk 
and  Leggiin,  about  a  mile  north  of  the  road  between  them,  which  is  perhaps  the 
Kedesh  of  Issachar,  and  a  Khirbet  Qadish  near  the  southern  end  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  in  the  territory  of  Naphtali.  —  mi-  n*?,-)]  Jos.  i^  Ru.  2^.  For  this  use  of 
N'^n  introducing  in  the  form  of  a  question  a  statement  which  commands  assent, 
cf.  Dt.  ii^"^  I  S..  2o3"  Mi.  3I,  Ges.25  §  150.  2,  n.  i.  The  verss.  freq.  render  it 
by  iho-O,  ecce,  &c.  The  pf.  refers  not  to  an  injunction  given  by  Moses  (Dt.  20^"; 
Ra.,  after  Mechiltd),  or  to  an  earlier  communication  from  Deborah  (Ki.),  but 

*  Fl.  Jos.,  Jerome,  Ki,,  Schm.,  Stud.,  Ba.,  Be.,  Ke.,  al. 

t  On  Kedesh  in  Naphtali  see  further  2  K.  1520  i  Mace.  ii<53-74,  Fl.  Jos.,  b.j.  iv, 
2,  3 ;  cf.  ii.  18, 1 ;  antt.  xiii.  5,  6  §  154 ;  OS"^.  27153.  See  Eli  Smith,  Bibl.  Sacra,  1843, 
p.  II ;   1849,  p.  374-376. 


1 1 8  JUDGES 

to  the  command  which  follows;  cf.  6"  (Abarb.,  Cler.).  — hdii'CI  i"-]  5"  2o37; 
transitively,  \J  In  describing  military  operations  the  vb.  seems  to  be  nearly 
equivalent  to  \2VD  (see  on  2o3')  and  to  be  construed  in  a  similar  way;  cf. 
3  -cyD  (Chr.  — in  the  older  books  Ss  or  hy),  2  onVj,  &c.;  cf.  de  Dieu  on 
Jer.  5^;  Stud,  on  Jud.  4'';  Ges.  T/ies.  s.  v.  —  7.  TiTi'Oi]  transitively,  draw; 
with  ace.  pers.  Ps.  28^  Job  402^,  — ijidh]  'mass,  multitude';  equivalent  to 
d;  v.13,  the  common  soldiers;  Ez.  312  3220.  — 9.  >o  Ddn]  limiting  a  preced- 
ing statement  or  correcting  an  erroneous  inference  which  might  be  drawn 
from  it;  cf.  Am.  9^  Nu.  13^8  Dt.  15*  i  S.  i^  ^.  It  may  here  be  merely  a 
check  to  extravagant  expectations;  it  is  not  necessary  to  supply  in  thought, 
"in  consequence  of  my  going"  (Ki.,  al.).  — "imNsn  n>nn  nS]  lit.  thy  glory  — 
that  which  is  naturally  anticipated  from  success  in  such  an  enterprise  —  will 
not  come,  be  achieved  (Schm.,  Ba.).  The  interpretation,  the  fame  will  not  be 
thine  {victoria  non  reputabitur  tibi  3L;  Lth.,  Stud.,  Reuss,  Kitt.,  al.  mu.),  is 
too  free,  and  accentuates  too  strongly  the  antithesis  between  this  and  the 
following  clause. 

10-16.  The  battle ;  rout  of  the  Canaanites.  — 10.  In  accord- 
ance with  Deborah's  direction  (v.^),  Barak  assembled  the  tribes 
of  Zebulun  and  NaphtaU  at  Kedesh.  —  The7'e  went  up  at  his  back 
ten  ihoitsand  me?i']  of  these  tribes.  Lit.  at  his  feet;  cf.  8^  Ex. 
11^  I  K.  20^*^  &c.  —  And  Deboi^ah  went  with  him']  to  Mt,  Tabor 
(v.^-).  The  words  probably  belong  to  the  old  story  of  Sisera; 
see  on  v.^  — 11.  The  narrator  pauses  here,  before  going  on  to 
describe  the  battle,  to  say  what  was  necessary  about  the  scene  of 
Sisera's  death ;  where  Heber's  tent  was  pitched,  and  how  these 
Kenite  nomads  came  to  be  so  far  in  the  north,  in  order  that  the 
story  might  not  be  interrupted  in  its  midcourse  by  these  explana- 
tions. The  verse  is  therefore  in  a  suitable  place,*  and  not  super- 
fluous by  the  side  of  v.-^'' ;  there  is  no  reason  for  regarding  it  as  an 
addition  of  the  last  editor.-f  It  seems,  however,  to  have  come  from 
the  story  of  Jabin ;  see  below.  The  words,  the  sons  of  Hobab, 
Moses''  father-in-law  J  may  be  a  gloss  borrowed  from  i'^  or  the  source 
of  ch.  I  ;  but  the  Kenite  is  original  here.  %  —  Heber  the  Ke7iite  had 
sepaj-ated  from  Kain]  from  the  body  of  his  tribe,  which  roamed 
in  the  region  south  of  Judah ;  see  on  i^^.  §     Heber  occurs  also  as 

*  See  Schm.,  Cler.,  Be.,  Bu. 

t  Matthes,  Th.  T.  xv.  p.  609,  Kue.,  HCO^.  i.  p.  367. 
X  See  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  68,  against  Mey.,  ZA  TW.  i.  p.  137  n,  3. 
\  On  the  wandering  branches  of  Arab  clans  {tawaif),  see  W.  R.  Smith,  Kin- 
ship  and  Marriage,  p.  37. 


IV.  IO-I3  TIQ 

the  name  of  a  clan  of  Asher  (Gen.  46^^  Nu.  26^^),  as  well  as  in 
Judah  (i  Chr.  4^^).*  — A?id  pitched  his  tent  as  far  as  the  Tree  of 
Basaaniniy  which  was  by  Kedesh']  cf.  Gen.  13^^.  This  was  the 
northern  limit  of  his  wanderings,  and  the  site  of  his  encampment 
at  the  time  of  our  story.  The  place  is  named  in  Jos.  19'^  on  the 
boundary  of  Naphtali,  but  in  a  connexion  which  does  not  enable 
us  to  determine  its  situation.!  Heber  the  Kenite  appears,  there- 
fore, to  belong  originally  to  the  story  of  Jabin ;  see  below  on  v.^^ 
and  5"^  — 12  f .  Sisera,  being  informed  of  Barak's  movements, 
assembles  his  forces,  including  nine  hundred  iron  chariots  (v.^-^ 
i^^),  and  marches  from  Harosheth  to  the  Kishon.  —  Harosheth 
ha-go}~i?n~\  commonly  explained,  "  the  Harosheth  of  the  (foreign) 
nations  "  ;  cf.  Gelll  ha-gofim,  Is.  8-^  9^ ;  possibly  in  distinction  from 
a  neighbouring  IsraeHte  Harosheth.  \  The  place  is  mentioned  only 
in  this  chapter  (v.--  ^^-  ^^) .  It  must  be  sought,  not  in  the  vicinity  of 
Hazor,  §  or  elsewhere  in  Upper  Galilee,  ||  but  in  or  near  the  Plain, 
where  alone  the  chariots  would  be  an  effective  arm ;  cf.  Jos.  1 7^^^^ 
Jud.  i^^  Thomson  ^  identified  it  with  the  modern  Tell  Harothleh 
(Harithiyeh),  in  the  narrows  of  the  Kishon  valley  commanding 
the  entrance  to  the  Great  Plain  from  the  Plain  of  Acre.  The 
similarity  of  the  names  is  more  striking  than  conclusive  ;  but  the 
situation  is  not  unsuitable,  though  somewhat  remote.**  —  The 
Kishon  valleyl  vJ  5^1  i  K.  18^  Ps.  Sf\  The  Kishon,  after 
the  Jordan  the  most  considerable  stream  in  the  land  of  Israel, 
drains  the  Great  Plain,  flowing  in  the  main  parallel  to  the  range 

*  M.  Jastrow,  Jr.,  suggests  that  this  clan  name  may  be  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  Habiri  of  the  Amarna  correspondence ;  see  ^BL.  xi.  p.  120.  Miiller 
(Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  174)  thinks  that  the  name  Kenite  here  (cf.  52^)  has  nothing  to 
do  with  the  nomadic  Kenites  of  the  South,  but  is  derived  from  a  town  Kin,  which 
according  to  the  Eg)'ptian  inscriptions  lay  in  the  Great  Plain  (cf.  p.  153). 

t  Conder  (  Tent  Work,  ii.  p.  132)  suggests  Khirbet  Bessilm,  on  the  plateau  west 
of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  not  far  from  Qadlsh  (Kedesh)  ;  see  below  on  v.  22,  p.  125  f. 
Cf.  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geography,  p.  395  f. 

X  Ba. ;  more  probably  ^<?>'/ot  originally  a  particular  tribe  or  people  (Duhm). 

5  Cler.  II  Van  de  Velde,  Kiepert,  Kneucker,  al. 

H  Land  and  Book,  1863,  ii.  p.  143  f. ;  2  ed.  ii.  p.  215  ff. 

**  The  conjecture  has  been  accepted,  with  more  or  less  confidence,  by  most 
recent  writers  ;  Be.,  Ba.,  Conder,  Socin,  G.  A,  Smith,  al.  It  is  only  possible,  how- 
ever, if  the  story  of  Sisera  be  separated  from  that  of  Jabin ;  if  the  chapter  is 
treated  as  a  unit,  Harosheth  must  be  sought,  as  Van  de  Velde  and  others  rightly 
argue,  in  Upper  Galilee. 


I20  JUDGES 

of  Carmel,  and  emptying  into  the  sea  at  Haifa.  Its  most  remote 
southern  affluents  come  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Genin ;  the 
northern  branch  rises  near  el-Mezra  ah,  west  of  Mt.  Tabor,*  It  is 
the  latter  that  is  meant  here.  — 14.  Deborah  gives  the  signal  for 
the  attack,  and  the  assurance  of  victory.!  Budde,  comparing  3^ 
(Jos.  lo^-^  S^^""),  suspects  that  14''  is  an  addition  of  D,  which  in 
turn  has  become  the  occasion  of  secondary  additions  in  ©  in  v.l 
The  verse  is,  however,  in  entire  accord  with  the  relations  between 
the  prophetess  and  the  chieftain  in  v.^%  and  in  form  corresponds 
closely  to  v.^.  —  Hath  not  Yahweh  gone  out  before  thee?~\  the 
question,  as  in  v.^  a  more  forcible  assertion.  Gone  out;  to  battle, 
as  often,  see  note  on  2^^  (p.  73).  Yahweh  is  a  mighty  warrior  (Ex. 
15^  Ps.  24^)  ;  his  name  is  Yahweh  of  hosts,  the  god  of  the  embattled 
ranks  of  Israel  (i  S.  17^^)  ;  in  the  sacred  chest  (ark)  he  accom- 
panies them  to  the  field  ( i  S.  4)  ;  he  marches  out  for  them,  or 
with  them,  to  battle  (Hab.  3^^  Zech.  14^  cf  Ps.  44^)  ;  or  comes 
storming  from  his  ancient  seats  in  tempestuous  fury,  discomfiting 
the  foe  and  delivering  his  people  (5"^';  see  comm.  there). — 
Barak,  with  his  ten  thousand  men,  rushed  down  to  the  plain,  by 
his  sudden  onset  apparently  surprising  Sisera  upon  ground  unfa- 
vourable to  the  manoeuvring  of  his  chariots,  which  thus  became  a 
source  of  disorder  and  disaster.  During  Vespasian's  campaign  in 
Galilee  (a.d.  67)  the  Jews,  who  had  fortified  the  summit  of 
Tabor,  attempted  to  surprise  the  Roman  cavalry  in  the  plain 
under  Placidus,  but  through  his  ruse  the  enterprise  miscarried.  %  — 
15.  Yahweh  routed  Sisera']  struck  the  foe  with  panic,  threw  them 
into  confusion  and  flight ;  Ex.  14^'*  Jos.  10^^  i  S.  7^°.  §  Josephus 
supposes  that  their  discomfiture  was  caused  by  a  great  storm  (cf. 
5^^-) . — All  the  army]  v?^  Ex.  14-"^  &c. ;  cf  other  expressions  v.''-  ^^ ; 
the  mass  of  footmen  in  distinction  from  the  chariot  corps.  —  At 
the  point  of  the  sword]  see  note  on  i^^  The  phrase  appears  in- 
congruous with  the  verb  and  superfluous  in  the  context ;  it  has 


*  Rob,,  Z?y?2.  ii.  p.  363-366;  SWP.  Memoirs,  i.  p,  265  flf, 

t  On  women  in  battle  among  the  Arabs  see  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  p,  61 ; 
cf.  'Aycsha  at  the  Battle  of  the  Camel,  Muir,  Caliphate,  p.  361  ff,,  &c, 
X  Fl,  Jos,,  b.j.  iv.  I,  8, 
\  Chytraeus  quotes  Pindar  {Nem.  ix,  63),  kv  ykp  Aai^aoi'ioiui  </)o/3oi;  <I>eu-yov(ri  ku 


IV.   I3-I6  121 

perhaps  been  introduced  here  accidentally  or  unadvisedly  from 
v.^'"'. — Siscra  dismounted  from  his  war-chariot~\  being  hard 
pressed  by  his  pursuers  and  unable  to  extricate  his  chariot  from 
the  rout,  perhaps  entangled  in  the  morasses  of  the  Kishon  or  cut 
off  by  its  streams  (see  on  5-^),  he  abandoned  it,  and  escaped  from 
the  field  on  foot,  alone.  — 16.  The  routed  Canaanites,  horse  and 
foot,  fled  toward  Harosheth;  Barak,  pursuing  them  to  the  very 
gates  of  the  city,  made  an  utter  end  of  them.  —  There  was  not  as 
much  as  one  left~\  Ex.  14-^;  not  a  single  fugitive  hved  to  reach 
safety  within  the  walls.  It  is  not  intimated  that  the  city  itself 
was  taken ;  it  may  safely  be  inferred  that  it  was  not. 

10.  hy>^]  is  not  Hiph.  (Ki.,  Schm.),  but  Qal;  the  subj.  is  not  Barak  (H, 
Lth.,  al.),  but  "ten  thousand  men"  (©QTcS).  The  sg,  with  plur.  numeral 
subj.  is  unusual ;  Ex.  32"^^  Jud.  7^  12^1  S.  4^'^  2  S.  24!^  are  not  precisely  similar. 
See  Roorda,  ii.  p.  361  f.  —  vSjia]  following  at  his  heels;  8^  Ex.  ii^  i  S.  25^7 
2  S.  1517-18  &c.;  equivalent  to  mnx  v.i*.  —  ty">N  "idSn  n-iu*;*]  regularly  we 
should  have  CflSs  as  in  v.'^;  the  other  instances  of  this  anomaly,  according 
to  the  Massora,  are  Ex.  32^8  Job  i^  (twice),  cf.  n^^i  tfiSx  Gen.  24'^'^.  It  is 
perhaps  only  accidental;  an  abbreviation  not  properly  resolved.  — 11.  nisj 
Gen.  139-11.  i-i  cf.  io5-32.  —  o-'JiJXJj  pSs]  Baer  J^n,  as  also  in  I2ii-i2.  In  ^>y;^2y 
2  is  not  the  preposition  ((g^  Jos.  19^3^  OS^.  29452,  %  Jos.  Jud.,  S>,  Mas.,  Drus., 
Schm.,  Cler.,  AV.,  RV.,  and  most  moderns),  in  Sdamm  ;  for  in  that  case  p^N 
would  require  the  article,  as  in  nDi3  Stt'Nn  i  S.  22^  31^^;  cf.  also  Jud.  6II 
n-iD;7a  ntrx  nSxn,  96  Gen.  35*  Jos.  2426  &c.  We  must,  therefore,  take  ^>y;'i2 
(n  radical)  as  genitive;  cf.  v.^  Gen.  12^  13I8  146  ^58  £)t^  nso  i  g^  jqS  and  esp. 
Jud.  9^7  □^jji;;d  pSx.  In  Jos.  1983  the  name  is  written  D^jjj:x3,  to  which  the 
Qere  in  Jud.  4II  conforms.  It  is  more  probable,  however,  that  the  true  form 
of  the  name  is  preserved  in  the  text  of  Jud.  (Kethib);  cf.  D''JVJD;  and  on 
nouns  with  n  suffix  in  general.  Earth,  Noniinalbildmtg,  p.  343  f.;  Suyuti, 
Muzhir,\\.^.  136.  —  ^Sn]  the  punctuation  discriminates  V-'N,  nSs,  fiSx  from 
nSx,  pW;  but  in  unpointed  texts  these  could  not  be  distinguished,  nor  can  we 
put  much  confidence  in  the  constancy  of  the  traditional  pronunciation  in  face 
of  the  bewildering  inconsistency  of  the  versions.  Celsus  (^Hierobotanicon, 
i.  p.  34  ff.)  thought  that  the  Massorites  consistently  distinguish  *  terebinth ' 
(-^N,  pSx,  nSx,  nSvS')  from  'oak'  (pSx),  and  this  theory  has  been  generally 
accepted,  though  with  no  agreement  in  the  distribution  of  the  names;  see 
J.  D.  Michaelis,  Supple fnenta,  p.  72  ff.;  Rosenmiiller,  Bibl.  Alterthiunsk.,  iv. 
p.  229  ff.;  Ges.  Thes.  p.  50  f.*  There  is  no  real  foundation  for  the  discrimi- 
nation; the  words  signify  in  Aramaic  'tree'  simply;  in  Hebrew  usually,  if 
not  exclusively,  *  holy  tree,'  as  the  place,  and  primitively  the  object  of  worship, 

*  Against  the  whole  theoiy,  Lowth  on  Is.  i-9. 


122  JUDGES 

without  regard  to  the  species.  The  Deborah  Tree  (|iVn  Gen.  358)  is  a  palm 
(Jud.  4^),  &c.  See  We.,  Prolegomena^,  p.  248  n.  =  History  of  Israel,  p.  238; 
Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  455.  On  holy  trees  in  Palestine,  Baudissin,  Stiidien  zur  semit. 
Religionsgeschichte,  ii.  143  ff,,  esp.  223  ff.  —  v\p  pn  ni:'N]  319  i  K.  9-^  of. 
d;?  2  S.  24!^.  — 12.  n-'j-'i]  indef.  subj.,  Ges.'^^  §  144.  3  b.  —  nS>']  c.  ace, 
Is.  7I.  — 13.  P/Tm]  v.iO;  call  out  and  assemble  by  the  war  cry;  cf.  the  passive 
(Ni.)  634f-  i822t-  I  S.  1420  &c.  — 3;]  soldiery,  q^S-S?  and  often;  here  equivalent 
to  pen  v'^.,  njHD  v.i^.  —  Harosheth']  at  Sheikh  Abrek  the  Galilean  foot-hills 
project  in  a  sort  of  bastion  towards  Carmel,  forming  a  narrow  pass  through 
which  the  Kishon  flows,  the  hills  here  rising  some  350  feet  above  the  bed  of 
the  stream.*  About  a  mile  and  a  half  northwest  of  Sheikh  Abrek,  in  the 
narrowest  part  of  the  pass,  el-Harithiyeh  lies  on  the  side  of  the  hill,  which 
above  it  is  covered  with  a  fine  oak  forest.  The  Kishon  at  this  point  flows  close 
to  the  rocky  base  of  Carmel,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  pass,  and  here  the 
main  Road  must  always  have  crossed  the  river.  A  stronghold  at  Harithiyeh 
would  thus  command  the  entrance  to  the  Great  Plain  from  the  Plain  of  Acre, 
and  the  commercial  highways  which  led  through  it.  The  situation  of  el-Hari- 
thiyeh is  not  incompatible  with  the  conditions  of  the  narrative  in  ch.  4,  or 
with  ch.  5;  but  the  arguments  by  which  Thomson  supported  the  identification 
are  far  from  decisive,  and  the  similarity  of  the  names  may  easily  be  accidental. 

—  14.    Dip]    Up  I  Summons  to  action;  512  f  320.21  Ex.  32I  I  K.  21^  and  often. 

—  'Ji  TiTN  Dvn  nr]  the  pronominal  complement  of  the  relative  particle  ncx  is 
omitted,  as  commonly  after  antecedents  denoting  time  at  or  during  which; 
Dr.,  TBS.  p.  149  n.;  Ew.  §  331  c  3.  —  yifh  nx*']  on  the  verb  see  note  on  2^^. 
The  phrase  is  used  of  the  leader,  general,  king,  at  the  head  of  his  forces,  9^9 
I  S.  820  &c.;  of  Yahweh  as  the  leader  of  Israel  in  war,  2  S.  52*  cf.  Dt.  9^ 
("•JcV  n^j?)  &c.  — 15.  NiD^D  nx  rwrv  dhm]  qdh  (subject  always  God)  '  inspire 
with  panic  terrors,'  drive  men  beside  themselves,  so  that  they  accomplish  their 
own  ruin.  See,  besides  the  examples  cited  in  the  text,  Ex.  23^^  2  S.  22^^ 
Ps.  144^.  The  object  is  generally  the  enemy  in  war;  see,  however,  Dt.  2}^. — 
Before  Barak']  Jos.  lo^o  cf.  i  S.  7I0.  —  •y-\x\  ""qS]  the  words  cannot  be  joined  to 
on-'i  in  any  sense  which  the  usage  of  the  phrase  warrants;  they  are  either 
miswritten  for  the  following  pn2  '':^^  or  borrowed  from  v.^^.  —  n:3D-\cn]  chariot, 
wagon,  528  2  K.  521-26  gii  ^c.  (331  is  usually  collective,  'chariot-corps').  The 
name,  with  the  thing,  passed  from  the  people  of  Palestine  to  the  Egyptians 
{>7iarakabuti,  MUUer,  p.  301 ;  above  p.  38  n.).  — 16.   3nn  •'SiS  .  .  .  Sfj^i]  Jos.  82*. 

—  nnx  ny  ns-^j  n*?]  stronger  than  not  one  (inN  inc'j  nS  Ex.  827  iqIS);  cf. 
Ex.  9'^  2  S.  1722.  The  prepositional  phrase  is  the  logical  subject  of  the  verb, 
Ew.  §  305  a. 

17-22.  The  death  of  Sisera.  — 17.  Sisera  escapes  on  foot  to 
the  tent  of  Jael.  From  v.^'%  especially  when  taken  with  v.",  it 
is  obvious  that  the  narrator  represented  the  tent  of  Jael  as  not 

*  .S  WP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  263. 


IV.  17-19  123 

very  remote  from  the  battle  field.  Verse  ^"'',  on  the  other  hand, 
taken  with  v.'',  carries  us  to  the  vicinity  of  Hazor  and  Kedesh  (in 
Naphtali,  v.^),  forty  or  fifty  miles  away.  The  most  probable  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulty  appears  to  be  the  supposition  that  Heber  the 
Kenite  originally  belonged  to  the  story  of  Jabin ;  Jael,  to  that  of 
Sisera.  In  that  case  v.^"'*''  is  derived  from  the  latter  source,  v.^^'' 
from  the  former.  The  words,  the  wife  of  the  Heber  of  Kenite, 
are  possibly  from  the  same  source  as  v.^^^,  and  the  conjecture  may 
be  hazarded  that  in  the  story  of  Jabin  the  wife  of  Heber  played  a 
part  similar  to  that  of  Jael  in  the  story  of  Sisera;  see  above, 
p.  109.*  The  alternative  is  to  regard  v.^^  and  v.^'^  as  editorial 
additions ;  but  we  should  then  still  have  to  ask  whence  the  editor 
had  the  names  and  why  he  introduced  them  here  ;  moreover,  the 
editor  (R)  calls  Jabin  king  of  Canaan,  not  king  of  Hazor. — 
There  were  friendly  relations  bet^ueen  Jabin  king  of  Hazor  and 
Heber  the  Kenite^  the  nomads  had  not  been  victims  of  the  op- 
pression from  which  the  Israelite  peasants  had  suffered,  and  had 
not  taken  part  in  the  rising  of  Naphtali.  In  the  present  con- 
nexion the  words  explain  why  Sisera  fled  to  the  tent  of  Jael.  — 
18.  Jael  came  out  to  meet  him,  as  she  saw  him  approaching.  — 
Walk  in,  my  lord ;  walk  in  to  my  tent;  have  no  fear']  cf.  Gen. 
19^^-.  Unlike  v.^^^  the  natural  inference  from  these  words  is,  not 
that  Sisera  directed  his  steps  to  these  tents  to  seek  refuge  in 
them,  but  that  he  came  upon  them  in  his  flight  and  was  induced 
by  Jael  to  turn  aside  and  conceal  himself  there.  The  illustra- 
tions which  the  commentators  have  collected  of  the  ceremonies 
with  which  a  fugitive  now  claims  protection  at  an  Arab  tent  are  in 
either  case  irrelevant.!  —  She  covej-ed  hiin  up  with  the  rug]  or 
perhaps,  tent  curtain.  The  exact  meaning  of  the  word  is  un- 
known ;  the  renderings  proposed  can  only  claim  to  be  suitable  to 
the  context.  — 19.  Give  me  a  little  dri?ik  of  water]  Gen.  2^^^ 
(J).  —  She  opened  the  inilk-skin]  the  lamb  or  goat  skin  in  which 

*  In  5-4  the  words  "the  wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite"  are  regarded  by  many 
critics,  on  formal  grounds,  as  a  gloss.  The  same  explanation  would  have  to  be 
given  of  the  words  "  the  wife  of  Heber  "  in  4''2i. 

t  Wetzstein,  Reisebericht,  p.  148 ;  Quatremfere,  "  Les  asiles  chez  les  Arabes," 
Mem.  de  L' Acad,  des  Inscriptions,  xv.  2,  1842,  p.  307-348.  If  Heber  and  Jael  origi- 
nally belonged  to  different  stories,  we  may  dismiss  another  mooted  question ;  viz., 
Why  did  Sisera  seek  refuge  in  the  tent  of  Jael  rather  than  in  that  of  Heber  ? 


124  JUDGES 

milk  was  kept,  and  poured  him  a  drink  into  a  bowl  (cf.  5-^).* 
Her  hospitality  exceeded  his  modest  request  (cf.  5-^) .  His  confi- 
dence was  naturally  confirmed  by  this  token  of  friendliness. — 
Afid  covered  him~\  again.  We  miss  the  adverb  in  Hebrew  as 
much  as  in  English.  —  20.  He  bids  her  stand  at  the  door  of  the 
tent  to  put  the  pursuit  off  the  track,  if  it  should  come  that  way. 
Then,  overcome  by  weariness,  he  gives  himself  up  to  the  sense  of 
security  and  falls  asleep.  It  is  quite  needless  to  ascribe  to  the 
draught  an  intoxicating  or  stupefying  quality.!  —  21.  When  -he 
was  sound  asleep,  Jael  took  one  of  the  pins  with  which  the  tent 
ropes  are  fastened  to  the  ground  (Is.  33^"),  and  a  hammer,  and 
stealthily  crept  to  his  side  where  he  lay  in  the  inner  part  of  the 
tent.  The  tent  pin  was  not  of  metal  %  —  the  bronze  pins  of  the 
tabernacle  belong  to  the  luxury  of  that  structure  —  but,  as  still  in 
the  tents  of  the  Bedawin,  of  wood.  §  The  hammer  was  probably 
the  mallet  with  which  the  tent  pins  were  driven.  Among  the 
Bedawin  pitching  the  tent  is  woman's  business,  and  so  no  doubt  it 
was  in  ancient  times ;  the  mallet  and  pin  were  accustomed  imple- 
ments, and  ready  at  hand.  ||  — And  drove  the  pin  into  his  tetnple  so 
that  it  went  down  into  the  ground']  transfixing  his  head.  —  He 
being  sound  asleep  a?id  exhausted]  circumstantial  clause,  explain- 
ing how  it  was  possible  for  her  to  kill  him  in  this  way ;  see  note. 
It  was  certainly  an  unusual  way,  and  more  ingenious  than  sure ;  a 
blow  of  the  mallet  upon  the  temple  was  a  much  simpler  and  safer 
plan  than  to  try  to  drive  the  blunt  wooden  pin  through  his  head. 
Wellhausen  ingeniously  conjectures  that  this  description  of  Sise- 
ra's  death  originated  in  a  prosaic  misunderstanding  of  the  poetic 
parallelism  in  5-^.^  This  is  not  improbable,  though  the  obscurity 
of  the  terms  in  5-^  forbids  too  confident  assertion;  but  we  should 
not  be  warranted  in  inferring  that  the  author  of  ch.  4  is  also  the 
author  of  this  misunderstanding.**  —  22.  Lo,  there  was  Barak]  he 
came  up  at  that  instant ;  the  particle  calls  attention  to  the  striking 


*  See  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  221,  382,  430,  &c. 

t  Fl.  Jos.,  Rabb.,  a  Lyra,  Drus.,  a  Lap.,  al.         J  Fl.  Jos.,  RLbG.,  Cler.,  Ba. 
\  Orig.,  Aug.,  R,  Moses  esh-Sheikh ;  see  Shaw,  Travels,  1757,  p.  221;  Burck- 
hardt.  Bedouins  and  Wahdbys,  i.  p.  39.         ||  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  221,  &c. 
11  Comp.,  p.  222 ;  W.  R.  Smith,  O  TJC^.  p.  132. 
**  We.,  Sta.;  contra,  Kue.,  Bu.,  Co.,  Cooke.     See  above,  p.  no. 


iv.  19-23  125 

coincidence;  cf.  Gen.  29^  Jud.  ii"^  i  S.  9**.  In  the  narrative  as 
it  now  runs,  Sisera  flees  from  the  field  in  a  northerly  direction  to 
the  vicinity  of  Kedesh  in  Naphtali ;  Barak  first  follows  the  rout 
of  the  Canaanites  to  Harosheth  at  the  western  extremity  of  the 
Great  Plain,*  then  strikes  off  to  pursue  Sisera  fifty  or  sixty  miles 
through  Galilee,  and  comes  up  just  as  Jael  has  killed  him ;  which 
is  obviously  impossible.  The  hypothesis  that  Barak  did  not 
accompany  the  main  pursuit  westward  to  Harosheth,  but  followed 
Sisera  in  his  flight  in  the  opposite  direction,  does  violence  to  v.^^.f 
See  note  below. 

17.  hv;]  on  animal  names  see  on  v.  4,  and  7^5,  —  18.  nniD]  twice  oxytone, 
as  frequently  before  a  following  x  (including  r])n'<);  J  see  Ew.  §  228  d;  Ol. 
§  228  c;  Ko.  i.  p.  443.  —  HDiDiyj  inDjm]  ®^^lmo  j  g  ^^  ^^  S^ppec,  which  in  most 
cases  stands  for  Heb.  n';'''\\;  cf.  Hesych.,  and  Schleusner,  s.  v.  We  should 
then  perhaps  think  of  one  of  the  goat's-hair  curtains  which  are  used  to  divide 
the  tent.  §  The  exegetical  tradition  in  general,  however,  is  for  a  rug  or  wrap 
of  coarse  stuff,  such  as  is  used  to  sleep  in,  and  worn  as  a  mantle  in  cold  and 
stormy  weather  (0^^<SC) ;   or  a  thick  coverlet  with  long  nap  (R.  Hai  Gaon, 

Ra.,  Ki.).  The  Syr.  |  ^^v^w  compared  by  Gea.,  Ba,,  Be.,  al.  acquires  the  sense 
triclinium,  pulvinar  from  the  custom  of  reclining  at  meals,  leaning  on  the 
elbow,  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  word  in  our  text.  —  iixj]  only  here; 
elsewhere  in  O.T.  "\nj  (pronounced  tidd^^  MH.  n^j.  —  20.  nby]  the  masc.  imv. 
in  direct  address  to  a  woman  is  anomalous.  The  use  of  the  undefined  predi- 
cate (3  sm.)  when  it  precedes  its  subject  (Ges.25  §  145,  7)  is  not  analogous; 
and  the  examples  of  irregularity  in  the  use  of  the  imv.  alleged  by  Ba.  (Mi.  i^^ 
Nah.  3!^  Is.  32II),  ai.^  ^0  not  lessen  the  difficulty  here.  We  require  the  fem., 
nny  (01.  §  234  h).  —  mpNi  .  .  .  nnxi  ■^,y<m  so^  tr^x  as  nim]  normal  structure 
and  sequence  of  tenses  in  continued  hypothesis;  Dr.^  §  121,  p.  130,  §  136.  I.  a. 

—  px]  No!  Ges.25  p.  465.  — nnm]  intrans.,  as  in  i^*  ((g^^M  g) .  others, 
transitively,  defixit,  infixit  {(^^^^^1L%%) .  —  ^H^^  OT^J  xini]  the  words  are 
pronounced  and  connected  in  two  ways:  noil  'l^'O.Di-iJ  xin%  he  had  fallen 
ifvto  a  deep  sleep  and  was  exhausted,  and  nb>^T_  1Vj;l  °^";iJ  ^'1^%||  he  being  fast  asleep 

—  so  he  swooned  and  died.  The  first  makes  the  circumstantial  clause  consist 
of  two  verbs,  which  stand  in  a  most  unnatural  order;  the  second  gives  a 
highly  superfluous  analysis  of  the  act  of  dying,  especially  as  the  swoon  could 

*  Supposing  it  to  be  rightly  identified  with  Harithlyeh. 

t  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.,  p.  396  n.,  adopting  Conder's  view  that  Kedesh  was 
near  the  southern  end  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

+  Once  before  y,  3  times  before  1. 

5  Or  as  a  kind  of  fly  or  awning.  On  the  Arab  tent  see  Burckhardt,  Bedouins 
and  Wahdbys,  i.  p.  37  ft ;  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  224  ff. 

II  Wickes,  Prose  Accents,  p.  140 ;  cf.  Norzi. 


126  JUDGES 

form  no  distinguishable  physical  moment  in  the  passage  from  deep  sleep  to 
instant  death.  I  prefer  therefore  to  pronounce  f|yM  anij  xim,  he  being  sound 
asleep  and  completely  exhausted  (^^'i^  adj.)  ;  ^^^  fH  is  to  be  connected  with  £i"i;? 
(med.  "i).  —  22.  If,  with  Conder  and  Smith,  we  look  for  Kedesh  and  Heber's 
encampment  by  the  Sea  of  Galilee  at  Qadish  and  Bessiim,  the  identification  of 
Harosheth  with  el-Harithiyeh  will  have  to  be  given  up,  not  only  as  incom- 
patible with  v.i'^,  but  as  altogether  too  remote  from  the  scene  of  action.  Tell 
Abu  Qudeis  (?  Kedesh  of  Issachar;  cf.  above,  p.  1 17),  between  Ta'annuk 
and  Leggiin,  lies  in  the  direction  of  Harithiyeh,  and  (again  assuming. that  H. 
is  Harosheth)  would  suit  v.^"*- isflf.  well  enough;  but  it  cannot  be  the  Kedesh 
of  v.i'b  cf.  11  (Heber  the  friend  of  Jabin  of  Hazor).  On  the  whole,  therefore, 
we  do  not  gain  much  by  trying  to  substitute  another  place  of  the  name  for 
Kedesh  in  Naphtali. 

23,  24.  The  subjugation  of  Jabin.  —  The  regular  close  of  the 
story ;  cf.  3'^.  —  23.  God  subdued  Jabin']  in  the  story  itself  we 
have  uniformly  Yahweh ;  the  use  of  Elohi7n  here  falls  in  well 
with  the  hypothesis  that  the  subjugation  of  the  oppressors,  which 
is  a  standing  feature  in  the  close  of  the  stories  of  the  judges, 
belonged  originally  to  the  pragmatism  of  E;  i.e,  is  pre- 
Deuteronomic.  The  variations  of  the  versions  here,  however, 
make  it  somewhat  doubtful  whether  Yahweh  or  Elohim  was  the 
original  reading.  For  the  verb  in  active  construction  cf.  Dt.  9^ 
Neh.  9^4  I  Chr.  \f\  —  Kingof  Canaan]  y?-^  (D)  ;  in  the  story 
itself  he  is  called  ktJig  of  Hazor  {yy^ ;  see  on  v.-) .  —  24.  The 
hand  of  Israel  bore  harder  and  hai'der  on  Jabin]  cf.  3^*^  (D) . 
The  relation  in  v.^^  was  completely  reversed.  —  Till  they  finally 
destroyed  Jabin.  king  of  Canaan  altogether].  —  The  chronological 
note  corresponding  to  3^^-^  &c.  stands  naturally  at  the  end  of 
ch.  5. 

—  23.  a^nSs  >'jp^_i]  (^bgn  5  ^g^y^  alm  g  ^^^tos  6  0e6s,  o  Kvpio%,  ?L  Deus,  ^<S 
>"%  Nnc.  —  24.  H'^i^i  -^i^n  .  .  .-^t\-\'\  double  absolute  object,  the  second  being 
an  adjective;    i  S.  14^^  2  S.  iS'^s.     See  Stud.,  p.  489;   Ges.-^  §  113.  3  n.  2. 

The  morality  of  Jael's  deed,  even  more  than  that  of  Ehud,  has 
been  the  subject  of  great  searchings  of  heart  among  the  apologists 
who  have  felt  it  necessary  to  judge  it  by  the  standard  of  absolute 
ethics,  and  to  justify  it  in  that  forum.  That  the  inspired  prophet- 
ess should  extol  Jael  for  what,  in  all  the  circumstances,  bears  the 
aj)pearance  of  a  treacherous  murder  (5^*  cf  23.31^^  jg^  ^f  course, 
the  greatest  difficulty  of  all.     We   need   not  follow  these  mter- 


IV.  23-V.  127 

preters  into  the  morasses  of  casuistry  into  which  an  unhistorical 
idea  of  reHgion  and  revelation  leads  them.  To  justify  the  deed 
by  the  standards  of  Christian  morality,  it  is  necessary  to  lower 
those  standards  to  the  level  of  the  deed.  See  Abarb.,  a  Lap., 
Schm.  {qu.  16),  and  esp.  Bachmann,  p.  288-297,  where  additional 
literature  will  be  found. 

V.   The  Triumphal  Ode. 

Literature.*  —  C.  F.  Schnurrer  (1775),  in  Dissertationes  philologico-criticae, 
1790,  p.  36-96;  cf.  J.  B.  Kohler  in  Eichhorn's  KepertoriujUy  vi.  1780, 
p.  163-172,  xii.  1783,  p.  235-241;  Herder,  Briefe  das  Studium  der  The- 
ologie  betreffend,  1780,  Geist  der  hehr.  Poesie,  1783  (^Werke,  ed.  Suphan,  x. 
p.  77  if.;  xii.  p.  172  fF.);  K.  W.  Justi,  National- Gesdnge  der  Hebi'der,  ii. 
1816,  p.  210-312;  G.  H.  Hollmann,  Commentarius  philologico-criticus  in 
Carmen  Deborae,  1818;  R.  D.  C.  Robbins,  "The  Song  of  Deborah,"  Bibl. 
Sacra,  1855,  p.  597-642;  J.  W.  Donaldson,  Jashar,  1854,  p.  237  ff.,  261  ff.; 
E.  Meier,  Ubersetzung  und  Erkl'drung  des  Debora-Liedes,  1859°;  f  G. 
Hilliger,  Das  Deborah-Lied  ilbersetzt  und  erkldrt,  1867;  G.  Bickell,  Car- 
mina  V.  Ti.  metrice,  1882;  Dichtungen  der  Hebrder,  1882;  A.  Miiller,  Das 
Lied  der  Deborah,  1887  ("  Konigsberger  Studien,"  i.  p.  1-21);  M.  Vernes, 
"Le  cantique  de  Debora,"  R^J.  xxiv.  1892,  p.  52-67,  225-255;  G.  A. 
Cooke,  The  LListory  and  Song  of  Deborah,  1892;  C.  Niebuhr,  Versuch 
einer  Reconstellation  des  Deboraliedes,  1894. 

The  Song  of  Deborah  is  an  epinikian  ode  celebrating  the  victory 
of  the  Israelites  over  the  Canaanites  near  Taanach.  After  an 
opening  strain  of  praise  to  Yahweh  for  the  great  deliverance 
(v.^-^)  the  poet  describes  the  state  of  things  which  preceded  and 
provoked  the  war  (v.^"^).  Verse  ^-,  with  its- invocation  of  Deborah 
and  Barak,  leads  over  to  the  Israelite  rising;  the  tribes  which 
took  part  in  the  glorious  struggle  receive  their  meed  of  praise 
^^14. 15a.  18^  ^  while  reproaches  and  taunts  are  heaped  upon  those 
which  held  aloof  (v.^^"'^^) .  Then  follows  the  battle  itself  and  the 
rout  of  the  foe  (v.^^-^^),  and  the  death  of  the  flying  king  by  the 
hand  of  Jael  (v.-^""').  The  anxiety  of  Sisera's  mother  as  his  return 
is  delayed,  the  expectation  of  triumph  and  spoil,  which  is  raised 


*  The  older  literature,  to  the  beginning  of  this  century,  in  Justi,  National- 
Gesange  der  Hebrder,  ii.  1816,  p.  217-225;  see  also  Bachmann,  Richter,  p.  298- 
301 ;  Reuss,  Gesch.  d.  A.T.,  §  loi.     Only  the  most  important  titles  are  given  above. 

t  See  also  his  Gesch.  der  poet.  National-Literatur  der  Hebrder,  1856,  p.  79  ff. 


128  JUDGES 

again  only  to  be  more  cruelly  disappointed,  form  the  tragic  climax 
of  the  poem  (v.^-^),  which  ends  with  the  strain : 

"  So  perish  all  thine  enemies,  O  Yahvveh  !  " 

The  movement  of  the  poem  is  throughout  straightforward  and 
natural.  It  sets  before  us,  first,  the  situation  before  the  revolt ; 
second,  the  rising  of  the  tribes ;  tliird,  the  victory  and  its  sequel, 
the  death  of  Sisera.  Notwithstanding  many  obscurities  in  particu- 
lars, especially  in  v.^""^^,  the  main  tenor  of  the  narrative  from  v.^-  on 
is  sufficiently  clear.  The  same  is  true  of  y}'\  but  in  the  interven- 
ing verses  (^"^0  the  difficulties  are  so  accumulated  that  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  be  sure  even  of  the  general  sense  and  connexion  of 
the  passage.  Verse ^  seems  to  resume  the  theme  of  v.-,  and  the 
distinctly  marked  new  beginning  in  v.^^  shows  at  least  that  v.^^-  ^^ 
must  be  joined  to  the  preceding.  We  have  then,  as  the  natural 
divisions,  a.  v.-"^\  b.  v}-'^^,  c.  v.^^'^\  The  connexion  between 
b.  and  c.  is,  from  the  nature  of  the  matter,  closer  than  between 
a.  and  b.,  but  this  is  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  dividing  the  poem 
into  two,  a  Hymn  of  Thanksgiving  (v.-"^^)  ;  and  the  Triumphal 
Ode  (v,^'^^).*  On  the  contrary,  v.^'^^  form  the  natural  and  indis- 
pensable introduction  to  the  Ode. 

The  obscurity  of  the  middle  of  the  ode  was  remarked  by 
Lowth.f  It  is  of  quite  a  different  nature  from  the  difficulties 
which  we  encounter  in  the  opening  verses  and  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  chapter.  These  are  due  to  our  defective  knowledge  of 
its  very  ancient  poetical  language,  and  affect  particular  words  or 
phrases  without  preventing  our  understanding  the  general  meaning 
of  the  passage.  In  v.^'^^,  on  the  other  hand,  while  clauses  here 
and  there  are  plain  enough,  the  whole  is  unintelligible ;  as  is 
superabundantly  proved  by  the  translations  which  are  given  by 
the  commentators.  We  cannot  lay  this  obscurity  to  the  charge  of 
the  author,  who  in  the  other  parts  of  the  poem  writes  clearly  and 
directly,  but  must  infer  that  by  some  accident  of  transmission 

♦  Ewald,  Dlchter  d.  A.  B^.,  i.  p.  i86  ff.  Ewald  supposes  that  tlie  Ode  was  com- 
posed for  a  different  occasion  from  the  Hymn ;  viz.,  for  the  triumphal  procession 
"  perhaps  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day." 

t  De  sacra  poesi  Hebraeoru77i,  p.  274  :  "  Media,  ut  verum  fateamur,  obsederunt 
haud  exiguae  obscuritates,  multum  officientes  Carminis  pulchritudini,  nee  facile 
dissipandae,  nisi  uberior  historiae  lux  accederet," 


V.  129 

these  verses  have  suffered  peculiarly.  It  would  seem  that,  in  a 
manuscript  through  which  our  text  is  descended,  this  place  had 
become  in  good  part  illegible.  The  scribe  who  copied  it  made 
out  as  much  as  he  could,  but  was  not  always  successful  in  recover- 
ing the  vanished  letters.  The  obscurity  of  the  text  thus  estabUshed 
would  naturally  become  a  fresh  source  of  corruption.  This  cor- 
ruption is  in  the  main  older  than  the  Greek  translators,  who  in  the 
worst  places  read  substantially  as  we  do  and  therefore  give  us 
little  help  toward  a  restoration  of  the  text.* 

Critics  have  been  almost  unanimous  in  attributing  the  Ode  to  a 
contemporary,  and  a  participant  in  the  glorious  struggle  which  it 
celebrates.  So,  to  make  but  a  single  quotation,  Kuenen  writes, 
"  Form  and  contents  alike  prove  that  it  is  rightly  ascribed  by  all 
competent  judges  to  a  contemporary."  f  This  consensus  has  re- 
cently been  challenged  by  Seinecke  J  and  especially  by  Maurice 
Vernes,  §  but  neither  the  methods  nor  the  conclusions  of  these 
critics  have  commended  themselves  to  other  scholars. 

Seinecke,  whose  work  in  general  is  marred  by  a  perverse  fondness  for 
paradoxes,  gathers  from  v.^^  that  the  ode  was  not  written  to  celebrate  the 
victory  over  Sisera  at  all;  but,  like  Ex.  15,  to  encourage  the  author's  contem- 
poraries by  reminding  them  of  the  great  deeds  of  Yahweh  in  long  by-gone 
days,  when  the  enemies  of  Israel  were  so  fearfully  punished  that  not  one  of 
them  was  left.  The  idea  of  Yahweh's  coming  from  Edom  (v.*)  is  inconceiva- 
ble in  ancient  times,  it  is  parallel  to  Is.  63  and  refers  to  a  future  parousia; 
the  colossal  exaggeration  of  yP,  "  They  fought  from  heaven,  the  stars  in  their 
courses  fought  against  Sisera,"  corresponds  to  the  notions  of  later  times,  and 
is  to  be  compared  with  Jos.  10^2-14.  y.e  (Jael  a  judge)  and  v.i-^  ("  Ephraim, 
whose  root  is  in  Amalek,"  cf.  I2i5)  contain  mistakes  which  a  contemporary 


*  Probably  few  scholars  would  now  agree  with  Evvald  {Dichter,  i.  p.  178  n.) 
and  E.  Meier  {Natlonal-Literatur  der  Hebraer,  p.  89)  that  the  text  of  the  poem  has 
been  transmitted  to  us  substantially  intact  —  not  to  mention  the  more  extravagant 
notions  of  its  impeccability  entertained,  e.g.  by  Bachmann  (p.  517  ff.).  August 
Miiller  {Das  Lied  der  Deborah,  1887,  i.  ff.)  has  proved,  on  the  contrary,  that  the 
corruption  is  extensive  and  deep-seated.  Whether  it  also  is  beyond  all  remedy, 
is  a  question  about  which  opinions  will  differ;  see,  on  the  other  side,  Budde, 
Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  102-104. 

t  HCO^.  i.  p.  346 ;  so  also  Vatke ;  We.,  Comp.,  p.  222  f. ;  Reuss,  GA  T.  §  loi ; 
Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  178.  Sporadic  doubts  of  older  scholars  (De  Wette  in  1817,  —  after- 
wards retracted,  —  Hartmann,  Rodiger;  see  Ba.,  p.  510)  were  without  influence. 

X  Gesch.  d.  Volkes  Israel,  i.  1876,  p.  243-245. 

§  RHR.  vii.  1883,  p.  332-338,  and  often  subsequently ;  see  below. 


I30  JUDGES 

could  not  make.  The  language  exhibits  Aramaisms  and  other  marks  of  late 
date,  especially  the  relative  r;  the  style  is  artificial;  v.i^,  for  example,  is  "a 
frigid  conceit  of  post-exilic  times,"  reminding  us  of  the  beginning  of  Ps.  i. 
Finally,  the  names  of  Barak,  Lapidoth,  and  perhaps  Deborah  ha'v'e  an 
unhistorical  ring.  "  We  are  forced  to  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  story  of 
the  conflict  of  Barak  and  Jael  against  Jabin  and  Sisera  is  a  bit  of  old  Hebrew 
mythology,  in  which  the  cleansing  and  purifying  powers  of  nature,  thunder, 
lightning,  and  flame,  are  arrayed  against  the  mist  and  clouds."  *  Vernes  f 
contests  the  common  opinion  that  the  poem,  compared  with  the  prose  narra- 
tive (ch.  4),  has  preserved  a  number  of  historical  details  and  bears  the  fresh 
impress  of  the  events.  On  the  contrary,  though  the  prose  story  is  late  and 
exhibits  numerous  inconsistencies,  it  is  drawn  from  older  sources,  and  is 
infinitely  superior  to  the  poem.  In  the  former,  only  two  tribes  take  part  in 
the  struggle;  in  the  latter  this  is  exaggerated  to  a  national  movement,  all 
Israel  is  oppressed,  almost  all  Israel  unites  against  the  foe.  Vague  and 
inaccurate  phrases  such  as  "new  gods"  (v.^),  "the  kings  of  Canaan"  (v.^^), 
"the  times  of  Jael"  (v.^),  point  to  a  date  remote  from  the  events.  Moreover, 
besides  ch.  4,  the  author  has  made  use  of  other  writings  which  are  themselves 
late.  The  names  of  Taanach  and  Megiddo  (v.i^)  are  taken  from  Jud.  i^^  or 
Jos.  12^1,  that  of  Meroz  J  perhaps  from  the  same  passage  in  Jos.;  the  repre- 
sentation of  Dan  as  settled  on  the  seaboard  (v.i")  can  only  come  from  the 
unhistorical  partition  of  Palestine  in  Jos.  The  poem  must,  therefore,  be  later 
than  the  latest  stratum  of  Jos,  "  If  the  prose  narrative  is  not  older  than  the 
5th  cent.  B.C.,  the  song  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  prophetess-judge  may  with- 
out hesitation  be  dated  a  century  or  a  century  and  a  half  later."  M.  Vernes' 
final  estimate  shall  be  given  in  his  own  words  :  "  Nous  disons  done  du  chant  du 
Debora  que  c'est  une  oeuvre  eminement  artificielle,  dont  quelques  tirades 
eloquentes  ou  brillantes  ne  peuvent  pas  dissimuler  le  vide."  In  his  later 
articles  in  the  Revue  des  etudes  juives,  M.  Vernes  reiterates  this  criticism  at 
length,  in  connexion  with  an  exposition  of  the  chapter,  and  adds  an  elaborate 
argument  from  the  language  of  the  poem,  which,  so  far  from  being  archaic,  is 
paralleled  throughout  by  that  of  the  Ketubim^  and  often  only  there;  so  that 
the  linguistic  evidence  also  brings  the  Song  of  Deborah  into  the  company  of 
the  latest  books  of  the  O.T.  §  It  is  impossible  here  to  examine  this  argument 
in  detail;   so  far  as  it  seems  worth  while,  we  shall  take  notice  of  his  observa- 


*  A  mythical  interpretation  was  earlier  given  to  the  poem  by  Steinthal  ("  Die 
Sage  von  Simson,"  Zeitschrift  fur  Volkerpsychologie,  u.s.w.,  ii.  1862,  p.  164),  who 
finds  in  Deborah  and  Jael  the  beneficent  rain-clouds,  in  Barak  the  lightning.  This 
explanation  was  adopted  also  by  Goldziher  {Der  Mythos  bel  den  Hebrdern,  1876, 
p.  162  =  Mythology  among-  the  Hebrews,  1877,  p.  256). 

t  I^//R.  vii.  1883,  p.  332-338;  Precis  d'histoire  Juive,  1889.  p.  no  n. ;  RHR.  xix. 
1889,  p.  65  f.  =  Essais  bibliqties,  1891,  p.  163-165 ;  finally,  REJ.  xxiv.  1892,  p.  S^-^7> 
225-255.  +  Piol^ably  Meron,  Jos.  122^  cf.  12^. 

^  See  the  summary,  I.e.,  xxiv.  p.  249  f. 


V.  131 

tions  on  the  usage  in  the  critical  notes  below.  Here  it  can  only  be  said  in 
general  that,  so  far  as  M.  Vernes  accurately  states  the  facts,  they  do  not  justify 
his  conclusions.  But  philological  d/cp//3eta  is  not  M.  Vernes'  strong  point, 
and  his  statements  are  frequently  most  deceptive  half-truths.  For  example, 
" garaph  (v.^i)  s'explique  par  I'arameen,"  suggests  that  f\-\x  in  this  sense  is  a 
distinctively  Aramaic  word,  whereas  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  Song  has 
much  closer  parallels  in  Arabic. 

The  representations  of  the  Song  agree  entirely  with  the  histori- 
cal situation,  so  far  as  we  are  able  from  our  very  scanty  materials 
to  reconstruct  it.  We  detect  in  it  none  of  the  anachronisms  by 
which  a  later  writer  so  easily  betrays  his  own  age  ;  *  nor  does  the 
atmospheric  perspective  of  the  narrative  indicate  that  the  writer 
stood  at  a  distance  from  the  events  which  he  relates.  It  exhibits 
neither  the  vagueness  which  is  the  first  result  of  the  blurring  of 
details  in  tradition,  nor  the  artificial  circumstantiality  which  marks 
the  subsequent  attempt  to  recover  them.j  The  impression  of 
reality  which  we  receive  from  the  Ode  is  hardly  to  be  paralleled 
in  another  poem  in  the  Old  Testament ;  and  a  comparison  with 
others,  especially  with  the  Song  of  Moses  (Ex.  15),  the  subject  of 
which  has  the  greatest  resemblance  to  the  Song  of  Deborah, 
strengthens  this  impression.  J  These  considerations  have  of 
course  no  weight  with  those  to  whom  the  poem  is  "  an  eminently 
artificial  work,"  the  rhetoric  of  which  is  sometimes  ingenious  and 
eloquent,  sometimes  strained  and  affected.  §  Against  such  aesthetic 
judgements  there  is  no  arguing. 

The  priority  of  the  Ode  to  the  prose  narrative  in  ch.  4,  and  its 
superiority  in  point  of  historical  truth,  appear  from  the  compari- 

*  As  when,  for  example,  in  the  "  Song  of  Moses  "  (Ex,  15)  Israel  is  already 
established  in  Canaan  (v.isff.)^  and  —  unless  v.i^b.  be  rejected  as  an  interpolation 
—  the  temple  in  Jerusalem  already  built. 

t  The  indefiniteness  of  which  Vernes  complains  is  chiefly  obscurity  arising  from 
corruption  of  the  text  or  context.  He  appears  never  to  suspect  the  Massoretic  text 
nor  the  translation  which  he  finds  in  the  popular  commentaries. 

X  The  inference  from  the  impression  of  reality  to  the  contemporary  origin  or  the 
historical  truth  of  a  narrative  is  not  stringent.  It  is  the  pre-eminent  gift  of  the  poet 
to  create  this  impression  even  when  his  story  conflicts  with  our  knowledge ;  —  think 
of  Homer,  Dante,  Shakespeare,  But  the  objective  character  of  the  art  which  is 
capable  of  producing  such  an  illusion  is  not  easily  exemplified  among  Semitic 
poets.  It  is  a  simpler  and  more  probable' explanation  in  the  present  case,  that  the 
poem  was  made  by  one  under  the  immediate  inspiration  of  the  events,  than  that  it 
is  a  supreme  work  of  the  creative  imagination.  $  Vernes. 


132  JUDGES 

son  instituted  above  in  the  Introduction  to  ch.  4  (p.  107  f.).  It  is 
especially  clear  in  the  accounts  of  Sisera's  death,  4^^-^^  5^-^.  See 
further  the  commentary  on  the  last  named  verses. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  great  majority  of  scholars,  Deborah  her- 
self is  the  author  of  the  Ode.*  It  is  attributed  to  her  in  the  title 
(v.^),  which,  however,  since  we  do  not  know  how  ancient  this 
superscription  is,  and  since  in  other  cases  the  titles  are  frequently 
in  error,!  cannot  by  itself  be  regarded  as  decisive.  Here. the  title 
seems  to  be  distinctly  confirmed  by  v.',  "  until  I,  Deborah,  arose ; 
till  I  arose,  a  matron  in  Israel."  Unfortunately,  this  evidence  is 
not  as  conclusive  as  it  seems ;  (3  and  %  t  have  the  verbs  in  the 
third  person,  "until  Deborah  arose,"  and  even  in  J^  the  form  of 
the  verbs  is  ambiguous,  and  may  equally  well  be  rendered,  "  until 
thou  didst  arise,  Deborah."  §  The  latter  interpretation  accords 
with  v.^,  "  Awake,  awake,  Deborah ;  awake,  awake,  deliver  a 
song,"  which  the  parallel  half  verse,  "Arise,  arise,  Barak,"  &c., 
forbids  us  to  take  as  the  self-invocation  of  the  poet.  In  v.^^, 
again,  Deborah  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person.  The  natural  and 
almost  necessary  inference  from  these  verses  is  that  Deborah  her- 
self is  not  the  author  of  the  Ode.  ||  The  other  indications  of  her 
authorship  which  commentators  have  found  in  the  words  of  the 
song  are  indecisive ;  in  some  of  them  the  text  is  insecure,  in 
others  the  interpretation.  Much  has  sometimes  been  made  of 
the  so-called  psychological  evidence ;  the  recital  of  Jael's  deed 
^y  24-27^  and  the  description  of  the  scene  in  Sisera's  palace  (v.^'^), 
it  is  said,  could  only  have  been  written  by  a  woman.^  This  is  a 
matter  which  hardly  admits  of  argument,  but  it  is  certainly  a  false 
note  when  Bertheau  finds  in  the  reference  to  Sisera's  mother  a 
touch  of  woman's  sympathy.** 

The  historical  value  of  the  Song  of  Deborah  can  hardly  be 
exaggerated.  It  is  the  oldest  extant  monument  of  Hebrew  litera- 
ture, and  the  only  contemporaneous  monument  of  Hebrew  history 

*  So,  e.£r.,  Ew.,  Dichter  d.  A.B.,  i.  p.  186  f. ;  Hitz.,  G  VI.  i.  112 ;  Renan,  Hist,  du 
peuple  d' Israel,  i.  p.  316. 

t  E.g.,  in  the  ascription  of  many  of  the  Psalms  to  David,  and  in  attributing 
Ex.  15  to  Moses.  J  Both  without  variation.  \  See  below,  iri  loc. 

II  We.,  Geschichte,  1878,  p.  252 ;  Reuss,  Graetz,.  JCue.,  A.  Miiller,  Kitt.,  Cooke, 
al.  H  Herder,  R6ville,  Ba.,  Be.,  Cass.,  al. 

**  See  also  Ba.;  and,  for  a  contrast,  Herder  {Briefe,  u.s.w.,  Brief  7,  end). 


V. 


133 


before  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom.  When  we  compare  the 
situation  of  the  tribes,  as  it  appears  in  the  poem,  with  the  frag- 
mentary traditions  of  the  invasion  and  settlement  in  ch.  i,  we  see 
that  Israel  had  in  the  meantime  established  itself  more  securely 
in  the  land.  The  Highlands  of  Ephraim  seem  to  be  completely  in 
the  possession  of  Joseph,  and  we  may  infer  from  the  part  taken 
in  the  struggle  by  Issachar,  Zebulun,  and  Naphtah,  that  the  latter 
tribes,  too,  had  gained  a  firmer  footing  in  Galilee,  while  Issachar 
had  probably  already  planted  itself  on  both  sides  of  the  narrow 
valley  which  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  Plain  separates  the  hills  on 
the  north  and  south.  The  Canaanites,  however,  were  still  masters 
of  the  Plain ;  their  fortified  cities  commanded  the  passes  which 
entered,  and  the  roads  which  traversed  it;  their  formidable 
chariotry  kept  the  Highland  footmen  on  either  hand  in  awe 
(cf.  Jos.  if^-^^).  With  increasing  numbers  and  strength,  it  was 
inevitable  that  the  Israelites  should  turn  their  eyes  to  the  fertile 
fields  and  rich  traffic  of  the  Plain.  After  a  period  probably  of 
peaceful  expansion,  the  Canaanite  city-kings,  alarmed  perhaps  at 
the  steady  encroachments  of  Israel,  took  the  aggressive.  They 
blockaded  the  main  roads  and  cut  off  communication ;  from  their 
cities  they  sent  out  bands  and  harried  the  countiry,  so  that  the 
unwalled  villages  were  deserted.* 

Incited  by  Deborah,  most  of  the  Israelite  tribes  concertedly 
took  up  arms  to  put  an  end  to  this  intolerable  state  of  things. 
From  the  south  of  the  Plain  came  the  three  branches  of  Joseph, 
Ephraim,  Benjamin  and  Machir ;  from  the  north  Zebulun,  Issachar 
and  Naphtali.  Each  tribe  and  clan  was  led  by  its  own  chiefs, 
who  are  repeatedly  mentioned  with  especial  honour.  The  united 
forces  were  commanded  by  Barak,  a  chief  of  Issachar,  or  perhaps 
of  Naphtali.t  The  Israelites  east  of  the  Jordan,  Reuben  and 
Gilead  (Gad),  were  also  summoned  by  Deborah's  emissaries,  but 
either  did  not  respond  at  all  or  dallied  irresolute  till  the  time  for 
action  was  over ;  nor  did  the  more  remote  northern  tribes,  Dan 
and  Asher,  join  in  the  rising.  In  the  Ode  these  tribes  are  bitterly 
reproached  for  their  selfish  indifference  to  the  cause  of  Israel,  and 

*  If  this  is  the  meaning  of  v.7a.  It  does  not  appear  from  the  poem  that  ne  and 
was  so  completely  overrun  and  subdued  as  it  was  by  the  Philistines  in  the  days  of 
Saul.  t  See  v.i«. 


134  JUDGES 

their  conduct  is  contrasted  with  the  alacrity  with  which  Zebulun 
and  Naphtali  braved  the  dangers  of  the  field.  When  Israel  is 
arrayed  in  arms  against  Canaan,  every  tribe  and  clan  is  bound  to 
come  to  the  support  of  Yahweh  among  the  valiant  warriors.* 

We  see  from  this  that  the  Israelite  tribes,  although  separated  and  to  some 
extent  broken  up  in  the  invasion  and  settlement  of  Palestine  and  the  tran- 
sition from  nomadic  to  agricultural  life  with  all  its  profound  changes,  felt 
themselves  to  be  one  people.  This  consciousness  must  have  come  down  from 
a  time  when  the  tribes  were  more  closely  united  than  they  were  in  the  first 
centuries  of  their  settlement  in  Canaan.  But  it  does  not  spring  solely  from 
the  fact  that  they  were,  or  believed  themselves  to  be,  of  one  race,  or  from  the 
memory  of  the  days  in  which  they  had  wandered  and  fought  side  by  side;  it 
has  a  deeper  root  in  their  religion.  Israel  is  the  people  of  Yahweh  (v.^i-  ^3) ; 
its  enemies  are  his  enemies  (v.^i)  ;  its  victories,  his  victories  (v.ii).t  To  him 
the  enthusiasm  with  which  chiefs  and  people  offered  themselves  for  the  holy 
war  is  gratefully  ascribed  (v.^-  9) ;  f  the  oracle  pronounces  his  curse  on  the  vil- 
lagers of  Meroz  for  not  coming  bravely  to  his  aid.  The  whole  Ode  is  a 
triumphal  Te  Deum  to  Yahweh,  Israel's  God. 

Yahweh  was  not  a  god  of  Canaan,  whose  worship  Israel,  in  settling  in  the 
land  and  learning  to  till  the  soil,  had  adopted  from  the  natives,  but  the  god 
of  the  invaders,  by  whose  help  they  conquered  Canaan.  His  seats  were  in 
the  distant  south,  whence  he  comes  to  succour  his  people  and  discomfit  their 
foes,  "going  forth  to  war  from  Seir,  marching  from  the  region  of  Edom." 
Thither,  long  after  the  time  of  Deborah,  Elijah  journeyed  through  the  desert 
to  the  old  holy  mountain,  where  he  found  Yahweh  (i  Ki.  19).  It  is  the  old 
and  constant  tradition,  that  at  this  holy  mountain  Israel  solemnly  adopted  the 
religion  of  Yahweh.  This  coincides  with  the  implications  of  the  poem  noted 
above,  and  explains,  as  hardly  anything  else  could,  the  strength  of  the  religious 
feeling  and  the  consciousness  of  religious  unity  which  express  themselves  in 
the  Ode.  The  indirect  confirmation  which  is  thus  given  to  the  tradition  that 
connects  the  beginnings  of  the  religion  of  Israel,  the  great  work  of  Moses, 
with  the  holy  mountain  (Horeb,  Sinai)  is  of  no  slight  weight. 

The  battle  was  fought  near  Taanach  and  Megiddo  (v.^^) ,  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  Plain.     The  Canaanita  city-kings  of  these 

*  For  this  reason  it  is  very  significant  that  Judah  is  not  named  at  all.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  avoid  the  inference  that  the  poet  did  not  count  it  among  the  tribes  of  Israel. 
It  was  originally  a  small  tribe,  which  grew  into  importance  by  union  with  clans  of 
different  stock  (Caleb,  &c.),  and  it  was  separated  from  Joseph  by  a  Canaanite  belt 
(see  above,  p.  8)  ;  but  these  things  hardly  account  for  its  absence  from  the  song. 
Simeon  and  Levi  are  also  wanting ;  Reuben  is  the  only  one  of  the  older,  southern 
group  of  Leah-tribes  that  is  named. 

t  So,  at  least,  these  verses  are  generally  understood. 


V-  135 

and  neighbouring  cities,  relying  on  their  chariots  and  their  superi- 
ority in  arms,  gave  battle  in  the  open  field.  Their  leader,  Siscra, 
was  doubtless  the  king  of  one  of  these  cities ;  and  the  glimpse 
of  his  court  and  harem  which  is  given  us  in  v.^'^*^  shows  that  he 
was  a  powerful  and  opulent  prince.  The  Israehtes  were  able  to 
raise  forty  thousand  men.*  They  were  peasants  from  the  hills, 
and  were  armed  only  with  peasants'  weapons ;  a  regular  mihtary 
equipment  was  hardly  to  be  found  among  them  (v.^).  The 
Canaanites  were  routed ;  the  treacherous  Kishon,  perhaps  swollen 
by  a  sudden  flood,  with  its  marshes  and  holes,  completed  their 
ruin.  Sisera,  in  his  flight,  passed  by  the  viflage  of  Meroz  (?), 
whose  Israelite  inhabitants  suffered  him  to  escape.f  At  the  door 
of  Jael's  tent  he  halts  to  beg  a  drink  of  water ;  she  gives  him  a 
great  bowl  of  milk,  and,  as  he  buries  his  face  in  it  in  his  thirst  and 
haste,  fells  him  with  a  blow  that  crushes  in  his  skuH. 

The  results  of  the  war  are  unknown  to  us.  It  is  hardly  probable 
that  Israel  took  from  the  Canaanites  any  of  their  strong  cities, 
but  the  power  and  prestige  of  the  Canaanites  and  their  terrible 
chariots  received  a  severe  blow.  X  The  union  of  Yahweh's  people 
at  the  call  of  Deborah  in  a  holy  war  must  have  done  much  to 
strengthen  the  feeling  of  oneness  in  race  and  religion,  and  their 
success  have  deepened  their  faith  in  Yahweh  of  armies,  the  god 
of  the  embattled  ranks  of  Israel.  Thus  the  victory  in  the  plain  of 
Megiddo  foreshadowed  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  kingdom 
of  Saul  and  David. 

The  Song  of  Deborah  is  unsurpassed  in  Hebrew  literature  in 
all  the  great  qualities  of  poetry,  and  holds  a  high  place  among 
Triumphal  Odes  in  the  literature  of  the  world.  It  is  a  work  of 
genius,  and  therefore  a  work  of  that  highest  art  which  is  not 
studied  and  artificial,  but  spontaneous  and  inevitable.  It  shows  a 
development  and  command  of  the  resources  of  the  language  for 
ends  of  poetical  expression  which  prove  that  poetry  had  long  been 
cultivated  among  the   Hebrews.     Few  fragments  of  this  earlier 


*  This  is  a  round  number,  and  naturally  not  below  the  mark.  Whether  the 
total  fighting  strength  of  Israel  is  meant,  or  that  of  the  tribes  engaged,  is  a  question 
which  can  hardly  be  answered. 

t  This  seems  to  be  the  point  of  the  contrast  with  the  blessing  of  Jael. 

X  Such  as  the  English  yeomen  at  Agincourt  dealt  to  the  prestige  of  chivalry. 


136  JUDGES 

poetry  have  come  down  to  us ;  probably  few  survived  to  the  cen- 
turies with  which  our  Hebrew  Hterature  begins,  but  we  cannot 
doubt  that  the  nomadic  forefathers  of  Israel  took  the  same  keen 
delight  in  lyric  poetry  which  is  so  strongly  marked  a  trait  of  the 
Arabs.* 

The  form  of  the  Ode  has  received  much  attention  from  students 
of  Hebrew  poetry,  and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  reduce 
it  to  metre  and  divide  it  into  regular  strophes.f  Some  of  these 
schemes  are  very  ingenious ;  but  those  of  them  which  adhere 
more  closely  to  the  Massoretic  text  are  so  irregular  that  the  terms 
metre  and  strophe  seem  to  be  misappHed,  while  those  which 
achieve  greater  regularity  do  so  by  more  or  less  violent  opera- 
tions upon  the  text.  They  help  us  very  little  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  poem,  and  can  only  with  great  caution  be  used  as 
a  canon  for  the  emendation  of  its  obscure  and  corrupt  places. 
All  that  can  safely  be  said  is  that  the  principal  pauses  in  the  poem 
are  after  v."  and  v.^^,  and  that  the  prevailing  rhythm  of  the  poem 
has  four  beats  to  the  line. 

1.  And  Deborah  sang,  and  Barak']  cf.  Ex.  15^  The  title  was 
probably  prefixed  by  the  editor  who  incorporated  the  poem  in  his 
Book  of  Judges,  and  expresses  his  opinion  that  the  Ode  was  com- 
posed by  Deborah,  and  sung  in  celebration  of  the  victory.  The 
grammatical  construction  makes  it  not  impossible  that  the  words 
a?id  Barak  are  an  addition  by  a  later  hand,  suggested  by  the  apos- 
trophe in  v.^^**-,  X  —  On  that  day]  the  day  of  victory  ;  there  is  no 
reason  to  think  that  the  writer  meant  the  words  in  the  looser  sense, 
at  that  time  (cf.  Jer.  f^  34^^  &c.),  nor  can  they  be  understood  of 

*  It  is  an  erroneous  inference,  however,  that  there  must  have  been  an  extensive 
poetical  literature  before  Deborah.  Early  poetry  was  not  preserved  in  books,  but 
in  the  breasts  of  men.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  Song  of  Deborah  itself  was 
thus  perpetuated  for  generations ;  though  we  do  not  need  to  invoke  the  aid  of  this 
hypothesis  to  explain  the  state  of  the  te.xt,  and  cannot  admit  it  as  a  warrant  for  a 
radical  reconstruction  of  the  poem,  such  as  is  attempted  by  Niebuhr. 

t  See  Fr.  Koster,  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1831,  p.  72  ff . ;  Ewald,  Dichter  des  A.  B.,  i. 
I.  p.  178  ff. ;  E.  Meier,  Poet.  National- Liter atur  der  Hebriier,  p.  79  ff. ;  J.  Ley, 
GrundzUge  des  Rhythmus,  u.s.w,,  p.  214  ff. ;  Bertheau;  G.  Bickell,  Carmina  V.  T. 
metrice,  p.  195  ff. ;  C.  A.  Briggs,  Pres.  Review,  vi.  1885,  p.  501  ff. ;  A.  Miiller, 
Konigsberger  Studien,  i,  p.  lo  ff. ;  &c.     On  other  schemes,  see  Ba.,  p.  521  ff. 

X  Be.,  al.  For  various  conjectures  about  the  part  that  Barak  had  in  the  Song, 
beginning  with  Ephrem,  see  Ba. 


V.  1-3  137 

a  subsequent  celebration  of  the  triumph  or  commemoration  of  the 
victory.  But,  as  we  have  seen  above  (p.  132),  Deborah  was  prob- 
ably not  the  author  of  the  poem,  and  it  certainly  bears  none  of 
the  marks  of  improvisation.  Nor  is  there  any  evidence  in  the 
Song  itself  that  it  was  sung  by  Deborah,  alone  or  with  Barak.* 

2,  3.  Exordmm.t  —  The  poet  announces  his  theme.  —  2.  The 
meaning  of  the  two  essential  words  in  the  first  half-verse  is 
obscure.  Most  recent  interpreters  adopt  the  rendering  of  some 
of  the  Greek  translators  :  For  the  leading  of  the  leaders  in  Israel^ 
for  the  volunteering  of  the  people^  praise  ye  Yahweh.  \  The  poet, 
according  to  this  interpretation,  calls  upon  his  hearers  to  praise 
God  that  chieftains  were  found  to  head  the  rising  of  the  clans,  and 
that  the  people  nobly  responded  to  their  call.  This  gives  a  good 
paralleHsm  between  the  two  members,  and  the  whole  corresponds 
in  sense  to  v.^  (the  marshals  of  Israel,  the  volunteers  among  the 
people) .  The  meaning  ascribed  to  the  words  bipheroa^  peraoth^ 
however,  rests  only  on  very  insecure  etymological  conjecture,  and 
is  exposed  to  grave,  if  not  insuperable,  grammatical  difficulties. 
The  translation  of  the  second  clause  shares  the  uncertainty  which 
attaches  to  the  parallel  first  clause,  though  all  the  words  are 
familiar;  cf.  2  Chr.  17^^  Ps.  iio^  —  Bless  ye  Yahweh']  render  him 
grateful  homage,  magnify  him.  —  3.  The  rulers  of  the  nations  are 
summoned  to  hearken  to  the  praises  of  Yahweh.  The  poet  would 
make  the  world  a  witness  of  Yahweh's  mighty  acts  and  compel  it 
to  own  his  greatness  ;  cf.  Dt.  32^  ^.  —  Hear,  ye  kings  ;  give  ear,  ye 
potentates']  the  two  verbs  are  often  coupled  in  poetical  parallelism  ; 
cf.  Gen.  4^  Ex.  15^  Nu.  23^^  &c. ;  the  two  nouns  also  occur 
together,  Ps.  2^  Hab.  i^".  The  words  are  addressed  to  the  rulers 
of  the  nations  of  the  world,  so  far  as  they  were  within  the  horizon 
of  the  poet's  contemporaries ;  they  shall  learn  the  great  might  of 
Yahweh  and  his  jealousy  for  his  people  Israel.  —  /,  to  Yahweh  I 


*  The  attempts  to  distribute  the  parts  of  the  Song  between  the  two  singers,  with 
or  without  the  addition  of  a  Chorus,  are  very  artificial.  See,  e.£:  Fr.  Bottcher, 
Die  dltesten  Duhnendichtungen,  u.s.w.,  1850 ;  Donaldson,  Jashar,  p.  237  ff.  Older 
schemes  may  be  seen  in  Ba. 

t  A  translation  of  the  Ode  will  be  found  below,  p.  171  fT. 

J  So  Schnurrer  (1775),  Herderi,  HoUm.,  Ges.,  and  with  minor  modifications, 
most  commentators  in  this  century. 


138  JUDGES 

will  sing\  for  my  part;  not  /,  even  /,  will  sing  unto  the  Lord 
(EV.),  which  is  doubly  unjust  to  the  emphasis  of  the  Hne. 
Observe  the  repetition  of  the  pronoun,  which  has  a  weight  in 
Hebrew  that  we  cannot  give  it  in  translation.  The  note  of  tri- 
umph rings  in  this  exaltation  of  the  subject.  Most  interpreters 
find  in  this  dominant  /  the  self-consciousness  of  Deborah,  heroine 
and  poet,  but  for  reasons  already  set  forth  this  is  improbable. 
Wellhausen  thinks  that  the  /  of  this  verse,  as  of  Ex.  15,  is  Israel.* 

1.  pn3i  nni^i  ncm]  Deborah  has  the  leading  part;  Barak  is  in  an  alto- 
gether secondary  position;  cf.  Nu.  12^  Ex.  15I.  RLbG.  and  Abarb.  (cf. 
Ephr.)  think  that  by  this  construction  the  writer  meant  to  imply  that  Barak 
had  no  part  in  the  composition  of  the  Ode,  of  which  Deborah  alone  was  the 
author.  iB'm,  from  n^c^  med.  i;  K6.,  i.  p.  510  f.  — 2.  'Ji  nipns  V?pi\  (g^^^o 
G  I  S  C  kv  ri^  Ap^aadai  apxiTYO^^  ^v  laparjX,  cf.  @  Dt.  32^2^  The  intention  of 
the  translators  is  no  doubt  correctly  expressed  by  Procop.,  8r)\oT  ij  pija-is  ■  iv 
tQ  Apxovras  iv  tQ  laparfK  dva(palve(r6aij  Kal  rhv  \abv  aurots  ifirelKeiv  cKbina. 

pi£3  is  compared  with  Arab.  Cyi  'eminent  man*  (lit.  'top'  cacumen)^  and 
the  fern,  is  explained  as  the  so-called  intensive  fem.  (Wright,  Arab.  Gram.^ 
i.  p.  157),  used  esp.  in  names  of  callings,  titles  of  respect,  and  the  like; 
e.g.  nassabat,  'consummate  genealogist,'  'allamat,  'perfect  scholar,'  &c.;  in 
Heb.,  perhaps,  nSnp,  rr^ob,  &c.  (Ges.^s  §  122,  4  ^);  or  as  one  of  the  words 
which  are  fem.  in  tropical  significations  (Bo.  §645  cf.  630).  @bgn  direKa- 
\v(p9-n  aTTOKdXvfXfJLa  iv  I.  (S,  more  clearly,  iv  t^  avaKoKv^acdai  K€(pa\ds')  connect 
the  words  with  >ns  Nu.  5^8  Lev.  13*^,  ynp  'head  of  long  hair'  Nu.  6^  Ez.  4420. 
Cass,  and  Vemes,  also,  interpret  of  the  wild  streaming  locks  of  the  warriors 
who  have  consecrated  themselves  to  the  holy  war.  t  5  and  K  (combined  with 
other  interpretations)  give  the  root  the  sense  which  it  ordinarily  has  in  Syr., 
Aram.,  and  MH.  (but  not  in  BH.),  for  the  retribution,  the  avenging.,  of  Israel's 
wrongs;  similarly  Ki.,  Abarb.,  Schm.,  Kohler,  Herder^,  al.  Some  modern 
scholars,  starting  from  the  assumed  primary  meaning  '  loose,'  render  the  verb, 
'  set  free,  liberate ' ;  so  Lth.  {das  Israel  wider  frey  ist  -warden),  Cler.,  J.  D. 
Mich.,  Justi,  Stud.  Neither  of  these  interpretations  is  justified  by  usage,  and 
neither  makes  a  passable  parallel  to  v.^.  —  "j-ia]  nowhere  else  takes  d  in  the 
sense  'for,  on  account  of;  we  should  expect  Sj?  (Dt.  Si*^).  This  difficulty 
exists  equally  for  all  the  interpretations  recorded  above.  The  more  natural 
rendering  of  the  prep,  is  with;  and  we  might  perhaps  translate,  with  long 
streaming  locks  in  Israel,  with  free  gifts  of  the  people,  praise  ye  Yahweh, 
thinking  of  vows  and  offerings  of  gratitude  for  the  victory  achieved;   or  we 


♦  Comp.,  p.  223 ;  see  on  the  other  side,  Be.,  ad  loc. 

t  The  second  clause  is  then  rendered  in  a  corresponding  way  of  the  taking  of  a 
warrior's  vow. 


V.  3-4  139 

might  give  d  with  inf.  its  temporal  sense.  —  3.  uvNn  .  .  .  i^jdc]  cf.  also  Dt.  32^ 
Is.  i2io  32^;  with  a  third  synonym,  5''a'pn,  Hos.  5I  Is.  2823  —  D'-jm]  a  word  of 
the  higher  style,  parallel  to  D"'d'?d  Ps.  2^  Hab.  i^^  Pr.  gis  31*,  to  ynx  ^aa'^- 
Is.  40^3.  —  -J)  nin'>S  i5jn]  the  accents  rightly  set  off  the  first  pronoun;  cf. 
Ps.  76^,  Dr.  §  198,  Obs.  2. — nsiN]  /«a-^^  melody^  inusic^  canere  vel  voce  vel 
fidibtis  (Cic,  divinat.,  ii.  59,  122;  cf.  nr^^Q'y  Nior,  Njoi  Nns?,  Gittin,  7*); 
often  coupled  with  -\"'i;>  (Ps.  2ii'i  &c.).  The  root  is  prob.  onomatopoetic;  see 
Hupfeld,  Zeitschr.  f.  d.  Kunde  d.  MorgenlandeSy  iii.  p.  394  ff.,  iv.  p.  139  ff, 
Psalmen^,  i.  p.  38  f. 

4,  5.  The  awful  coining  of  Yahweh.  —  After  the  exordium 
(v.^)  the  poet  hurries  us  in  medias  res  and  describes  the  coming 
of  Yahweh  "from  his  ancient  seats  in  the  South  to  succour  his 
people.  The  cause  of  his  coming  is  exposed  in  the  following 
verses  (v.^^).  This  is  the  only  natural  explanation  of  v.""" ;  the 
mention  of  Sinai  in  v.^  which  seems  to  require  a  different  inter- 
pretation, is  a  gloss.  With  the  description  of  Yahweh's  advent 
compare  Dt.  33^  Hab.  a^^-  Ps.  68^^  also  2  S.  22^^-  (Ps.  18^^)  Mi.  i^"* 
Ps.  97^;  cf  //.  xiii.  17-19.  —  4.  Yahweh^  when  thou  wentest 
forth  from  Seir^  when  thou  marchedst  from  the  region  of  Edonf\ 
the  words  do  not  refer  to  the  descent  of  Yahweh  upon  Mt.  Sinai 
(Ex.  19^^^)  or  Horeb  (Dt.  ^^-^^  522*)  at  the  institution  of  the 
religion  of  Israel,*  The  imagery  bears  a  certain  resemblance  to 
the  passages  last  cited,  though  only  in  features  common  to  all 
such  manifestations ;  but  the  sublime  phenomena  which  attended 
the  giving  of  the  law  have  no  obvious  connexion  with  the  subject 
of  the  poem,  nor  is  any  suggested  by  the  author.  If  a  contrast 
had  been  intended  between  the  great  deeds  of  God  for  Israel  in 
former  days  and  the  recent  humiliation, f  or  a  comparison  of  his 
intervention  in  the  destruction  of  Sisera  with  the  prodigies  at 
Sinai,  J  it  must  have  been  intimated  in  some  way.  After  the 
announcement  of  the  theme  in  v.^-  we  expect  praises  of  Yahweh 
for  the  great  deliverance  he  has  just  wrought,  not  an  irrelevant 
historical  reminiscence.  Finally,  Yahweh  did  not  come  to  Sinai 
from  Seir,  from  the  plateau  of  Edom  (v."**) ,  to  give  the  law ;  and 
no  plausible  or  even  possible  explanation  of  these  words  has 
been  proposed  by  the  commentators  who  interpret  v."**"-  of  the 


♦  3r,  Ra.,  a  Lyra,  Schnurrer,  Rosenm.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Hilliger,  Ba.,  Robertson,  Cooke, 
al.  mu.  t  Schnur.,  Ew.,  Be.,  Vernes,  al.  \  Rosenm. 


I40  JUDGES 

theophany  at  Sinai.  Others,  comparing  Dt.  ^f  Hab.  3^^;  refer 
the  verses  to  earher  wars,  such  as  those  against  Sihon  and  Og,  in 
which  Yahweh  led  his  people  to  victory,*  or  to  the  whole  progress 
through  the  desert  to  Canaan  with  Yahweh  at  their  head.t  But 
this  again  is  aot  in  the  text,  and  the  same  objections  from  the 
context  which  were  urged  against  the  former  interpretation  are 
valid  against  this.  J 

Text  and  context  constrain  us,  therefore,  to  interpret  the  verses 
of  the  coming  of  Yahweh  to  the  help  of  his  people  in  the  war 
with  Sisera.§  The  ancient  seats  of  Yahweh  were  not  in  Canaan, 
but  in  the  South,  at  Sinai  (J,  Ex.  19"  ^^^o,  F  passim)  or  Horeb 
(E,  Ex.  3^  18^  33^  Nu.  10^  &c.,  D  passim)  ;  the  latter  is  the  tra- 
dition of  the  northern  tribes  (i  K.  19^),  and  is  probably  to  be 
assumed  here.  Horeb  was  in  the  land  of  Midian,  i.e.  in  Arabia, 
east  of  the  eastern  prong  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  gulf  of  'Aqabah,  || 
among  mountains  which  form  the  southern  continuation  of  the 
range  east  of  the  'Arabah.  From  Horeb,  Yahweh  would  come 
into  Canaan  from  Seir,  from  the  plateau  of  Edom,  as  in  our  verse. 
Cf.  especially  Dt.  33^  Hab.  3^.  —  IV/ien  thou  wentest  fortJi\  to 
battle;  see  on  2^^  4^^ — Marchedst~\  the  two  verbs  are  similarly 
coupled  in  Hab.  3^^-^  Ps.  68^;  cf  the  corresponding  noun 
2  S.  5-'*.  —  Seir]  is  the  home  of  Esau,  the  land  which  was  given 
him  by  Yahweh,  as  Canaan  was  given  to  Jacob  (Jos.  24^  Dt.  2^  cf. 
Gen.  32^  33^0-  I^  is  the  mountain  range  east  of  the  'Arabah, 
from  the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  Gulf  of  'Aqabah, 
now  called  in  its  northern  part  el-Gibal,  in  the  southern  esh- 
Sherah.f  —  The  7'egiofi  of  Edom'\  identical  with  Seir ;  see  Gen. 
32'^  and  cf  also  36^. —  The  earth  quaked,  the  heaveiis  dripped'^ 

*  Ibn  Ezra  (on  Dt.  33  Ps.  68) ,  RLbG.,  cf.  Ki. 

t  Ephr.,  Procop.  (including  the  deliverance  from  Egypt),  Cler.,  Lette,  Justi,  Ew., 
Cass.,  Vernes, 

X  See  Schm.,  p.  463  f.,  whose  statement  of  the  matter  can  hardly  be  bettered, 
though  he  is  finally  constrained  by  the  mention  of  Sinai  to  adopt  an  interpretation 
which  he  has  himself  shown  to  be  untenable. 

\  Kohler  (1780),  Hollmann,  Stud.,  Reuss,  We.,  Sta.,  W.  R.  Smith,  al. 

(1  Aelaniticus  sinus.  Horeb  was  a  distance  of  eleven  days'  journey,  by  the  Mt. 
Seir  road,  from  Kadesh  Bamea  (Dt.  i2).  These  are  really  the  only  clues  that  we 
possess. 

H  See  Buhl,  Geschichtc  der  Edomiter,  p.  2  flf. ;  cf.  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa, 
p.  13s  i' 


V.  4-5  141 

cf.  2  S.  228«^  (=Ps.  i8^<^)  Mi.  r^f-  Vs.  ()f-'  I44«^  For  dripped, 
which  might  have  been  taken  up  accidentally  from  the  next 
hemistich,  several  recensions  of  &  have,  were  in  commotion; 
Budde  conjectures  that  this  represents  the  original  reading,  the 
heavens  swayed. —  The  clouds  dripped  water,  5.  the  mountains 
strea??ted']  in  the  derivative  passage,  Ps.  6?>^y  these  lines  are  lack- 
ing. The  second  verb  is  generally  translated  trembled  (cf.  Is. 
64^),  but  streamed  is  a  more  natural  rendering  of  the  Hebrew 
word  and  gives  a  better  parallel,  especially  if  we  adopt  the  read- 
ing of  (©  in  the  previous  member. — Before  Yahweh  {that  is, 
Sinai)  y  before  Yahweh,  the  God  of  Israel']  the  words  that  is, 
Si7iai  are  a  gloss  to  the  mountains  in  the  preceding  clause ;  * 
originally,  as  its  form  shows,  a  marginal  note,  made  by  some  one 
to  whom  the  language  of  v.^^-  suggested  Ex.  19.  Subsequently  it 
intruded  into  the  text  in  the  wrong  place.  The  rhythm  of  the 
passage  also  gains  by  the  removal  of  the  words. 

4.  Ti;7X:3]  with  dagesh,  distinguishing  the  inf.  from  the  noun  (Pr.  4^2); 
Evf.  §  255  d ;  01.  §  160  b.  The  primary  meaning  seems  to  be,  'walk  with 
great  steps,  stride,  stalk ' ;  of  the  stately  march  of  a  religious  pomp,  2  S.  6^* 
cf.  2  S.  22»7  Pr.  412  Job  i8^  also  Jer.  lo^  Pr.  f.  —  m-iN  r\-\v'\  Gen.  32*,  parallel 
to  -y^yv  Y-\H'y  n-yv  is  used  of  Moab  (Gen.  36^ Nu.  21^0  &c.),  Aram  (Hos.  I2i3), 
Ephraim  (Obad.  i^^  cf.  Jud.  20^),  Philistines  (i  S.  6I  2f-  H),  Amalekites 
(Gen.  14'^).  It  is  not  specifically  the  plateau  in  distinction  from  the  moun- 
tains, but  is  simply  the  region  of  Edotn.  —  ii3*jj  D-'C"^  sj]  the  particle  is  not 
cUmacteric,  but  cumulative;  each  clause  adds  a  trait  to  the  completeness  of  the 
description.  ^^1  is  '  drop,  drip,'  in  distinction  from  *  pour,  flow,'  in  a  continu- 
ous stream;  usually  with  ace.  as  in  the  next  clause.  ^PVLNO  g  iTapdxOv 
^  i^earddr]  M  i^^arir]  \  I  turbatum  est  (Verecundus),  i.e.  iJ^?:j  (Bu,,  Richt.  u. 
Sam.,  p.  104).  JiD  is  not  'melt  away,'  as  commonly  affirmed,  but  'move  in 
waves,  be  violently  agitated,'  like  the  Arab,  g^^  (Abulw.,  Vollers,  SS.)-  — 

5.  -iStj  nnn]  in  Is.  63!^  (accidentally  repeated  64^)  the  vb.  is  pronounced 
'hh,  by  which  the  Ni.  of  SSt  is  prob.  intended  (cf.  iVJJ  Is.  34*) ;  0  VLS}  interpret 
shake.  So  here  (§  iaaKevOr^aav  I  commoti  sunt  (Verecundus)  '^%,  followed  by 
most  recent  comm.  and  lexx.  (Ges.,  MV.,  SS.,  BDB.,  Hollm.,  E.  Meier,  Stud., 
Ke.,  Be.,  Ba.,  Bi.,  al.).  The  pronunciation  of  iI5l  is  then  explained  as  due  to 
false  analogy  to  the  3  sg.  pf.  of  the  normal  verb.  The  parallelism,  however, 
csp.  if  we  read  uidj  in  v.^%  is  better  satisfied  if  -we  derive  the  word  from  Srj 
•  stream.*     In  the  first  two  members  we  see  the  earth  quaking,  the  heavens 


Precisely  so  in  Ps.  688,  -j-  ©G  ^Vra^ei',  ^  0  so-Ta^ei/  fipdaou?  =  IE}. 


142  JUDGES 

swaving;  *  in  the  last  two,  the  clouds  dropping  rain,  the  torrents  streaming 
down  the  sides  of  the  mountains.  For  the  vb.  cf.  Job  3628  Is.  458  Jer.  g^"^  and 
the  poet,  use  of  D-^hui  'streams'  Ex.  15^  Ps.  78^^  &c.  The  suppression  of  the 
ace,  which  is  expressed  in  the  preceding  clause,  occasions  no  difficulty.  So 
It  monies  Jlitxerunt.^  —  ""J^D  n?]  Ps.  68^.  Commonly  taken  deictically,  yon 
Sinai,  Sinai  there ;  others,  Sinai,  I  say.  The  first  would  only  be  natural  if 
Sinai  were  in  sight,  and  for  neither  is  there  sufficient  grammatical  warrant. 
Examples  superficially  similar  are  collected  in  the  grammars,  e.g.  Green,  §  252, 
2  a;  Ges.25  §  126,  5  n.  2,  §  136  n.  3,  and  esp.  Driver  in  BDB,  Lex.,s.  v.  n?;  but 
they  need  to  be  carefully  sifted.  In  some  the  pron.  is  pred. ;  in  a  good  many 
others  (esp.  in  the  Pss.)  we  may  recognize  the  influence  of  Aramaic  syntax; 
Ex.  32^  (ntt'D  ht)  I  K.  14^'*  (see  Klost.)  Is.  231^  (see  Duhm)  are  glosses,  in  which 
nr  is  used  just  as  we  use  "  i.e."  The  suspicion  that  in  Jud.  5^  also  the  words  are 
a  gloss  receives  some  confirmation  from  the  variations  of  the  Greek  versions; 
see  my  edition  of  the  Hebrew  text  in  The  Sacred  Books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
&c.     S  alone  renders  quite  grammatically  tovt^o-ti  rb  Stj/a;   cf.  also  Ps.  68^. 

6-8.  The  state  of  things  before  the  war.  —  Travel  on  the 
highways  was  stopped,  and  travellers  were  constrained  to  take 
roundabout  byways ;  the  country  was  harried  by  armed  bands  of 
Canaanites,  so  that  the  Israelite  peasants  were  compelled  to 
abandon  their  villages.  This  is  not  a  mere  instance  and  illus- 
tration of  the  insecurity  of  the  land  under  Canaanite  misrule ;  it 
is  the  grievance  which  was  the  cause  of  war.  —  6.  In  the  days  of 
Shatngar  ben  Anath,  in  the  days  of  Jael'\  the  period  immediately 
preceding  the  appearance  of  Deborah  as  leader  and  deliverer 
(v.^^).  The  asyndeton  would  imply  that  Shamgar  and  Jael  were 
contemporaries.  The  latter  can  be  no  other  than  the  heroine 
celebrated  in  v.^^- ;  X  not  an  otherwise  unknown  judge  of  the 
same  name,§  in  which  case  the  author  must  have  distinguished 
them  in  some  way,  e.g.  by  adding  the  name  of  his  father.  The 
difficulty,  however,  which  this  hypothesis  is  created  to  relieve  is  a 
real  one.  It  is  singular  that  the  name  of  this  Bedawi  woman 
should  be  coupled  with  that  of  Shamgar.  And  how  can  the 
period  before  the  rise  of  Deborah  be  called  the  days  of  Jael, 
when  the  deed  which  made  her  famous  was  only  the  last  act  in 

*  To  the  ancients  the  firmament  was  as  solid  as  the  earth, 
t  Rabb.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Ew.,  al. 

X  Ff.,  Rabb.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Rosenm.,  Ke.,  Ba.,  and  most. 

{Teller  (1766),  Kohler,  Hollmann,  Ges.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Oettii;  a  female  judge, 
Green  (1753),  Justi.    Ew.  conjectures  that  Jair  (io3)  is  meant. 


V.  6-7  143 

the  deliverance  which  Deborah  had  already  achieved  ?     The  best 
that  can  be   said  is,  that,  although  Shamgar  and  Jael,  both  of 
whom  in  different  ways  wrought  deliverance  for  their  people,  were 
living,  they  did  nothing  to  free   Israel  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
Canaanites  until  Deborah  appeared.     But  it  must  be  confessed 
that  this  is  not  very  natural ;  and  it  would  perhaps  be  better  to 
regard  in  the  days  of  Jael  as  a  gloss.*     If  this  be  so,  the  question 
will  arise  whether  Shamgar  was  originally  an  Israelite  hero  at  all. 
In  the  comm.  on  f^  it  has  been  shown  that  as  a  deliverer  of  Israel 
he  belongs  to  the  latest  redaction,  and  that  the  slaughter  of  the 
Philistines  is  premature.     If  5^  is  interpreted  independently  of 
this  unhistorical  exploit,  it  would  be  quite  as  natural  to  see  in  him 
the  oppressor  of  Israel  as  its  champion.f     The  name  is  strangely 
foreign  and  heathenish.  %     The  obvious  objection  to  this  interpre- 
tation is,  that  Shamgar  plays  no  part  in  the  struggle ;  the  chief  of 
the  enemy  is  Sisera.  §  —  Caravans  ceased,  and  those  who  travelled 
the  roads  went  by  roufidabout  paths']  the  first  words  are  usually 
interpreted,  as  in  JH,  the  highways  were  disused ;  cf.  Is.  2,:^^.     It 
is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  verb  will  bear  this  meaning,  and 
the  parallelism  is  impaired.     Commerce  between  different  parts 
of  the  land  was  cut  off,  and  those  who  were  compelled  to  jour- 
ney by  themselves  took  circuitous  and  unfrequented  bypaths.  — 
7.   The  first  half-verse  evidently  continues  the  description  of  the 
wrongs  which  Israel  suffered  in  the  days  of  Shamgar.     The  mean- 
ing of  the  words,  however,  is  uncertain.     The  noun  {perazon) 
occurs  again  in  v.",  but  no  rendering  which  suits  one  of  these 
places  seems  to  be  possible  in  the  other.     In  v.^  we  might  per- 
haps give  it  the  sense,  village  population,  or  better,  by  a  slight 
emendation,  read,  hamlets  ceased;    the  peasants   deserted  their 
villages  for  the  protection  of  the  walled  towns.     This  is  appro- 
priate enough  in  the  context,  and  may  be  right.  ||     If  so,  the  word 

*  Geddes,  Bi.,  Cooke.  f  Cf.  "  in  the  days  of  the  Philistines,"  1520. 

X  See  above,  p.  io6.  It  would  be  the  sohtary  instance  in  the  O.T.  in  which  an 
Israelite  bears  openly  the  name  of  a  heathen  god  (Baethgen,  Deitrdge,  p.  140  f.). 

\  We  should  have  to  supplement  the  hypothesis  by  another,  that  Shamgar  had 
died  before  the  war  and  been  succeeded  by  Sisera.  The  names  are  alike  in  l)eing 
neither  Canaanite  nor  Hebrew. 

II  It  is  so  interpreted  by  ES',  Abulw.,  Ra.,  Ki.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Kohl.,  Ke.,  Cass., 
Ba..  Bu.,  al.    Cf.  ffifLOP  g  I  (Aug.,  aL) 


T44  JUDGES 

in  V."  must  be  given  up,  a  step  which,  in  the  unintelligible  and 
indubitably  corrupt  text  there,  we  need  not  hesitate  to  take.  The 
rendering  viighty  me7i,''^  or  counsel,  leadership,  rule,  judges,-\  is 
recommended  by  the  fact  that  it  would  be  possible  in  v.^^  also ; 
but  has  no  support  in  usage  or  etymology,  and  in  v.^  is  less  appro- 
priate to  the  context  and  parallelism. 

The  repetition  of  the  verb  ceased  without  a  subject  may  be 
accidental,  or  a  subject  synonymous  with  perazon  may  have  fallen 
out  of  the  text.  %  —  Till  thou  didst  arisCy  DeboraJi]  the  verbs  may 
be  either  the  first  person  or  the  second  person  feminine  with  the 
old  ending ;  v.^^  (cf.  v.^^)  makes  it  probable  that  the  latter  is 
intended.  §  Budde  thinks  v.^^  a  gloss ;  see  note.  —  A  matrofi  in 
Israel~\  the  phrase  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  only  in  2  S.  20^^, 
a  city  and  a  mother  in  Israel  {^  correctly, /xTyrpoVoAt?) ,  ||  from 
which  Niebuhr  infers  that  Deborah  also  was  not  a  woman,  but  a 
town,  Daberath-Deburiyeh.^ 

mmx  iSin]  Snn  ♦  leave  off';  intrans.,  *  stop,  cease '  Ex.  9^*  Dt.  15I1  &c.;  that 
it  may  also  mean  'lie  idle '  is  not  established  by  i  S.  2^  Job  14^.  It  is  on  all 
accounts  preferable  to  pronounce  the  noun  mn-iN,  *  companies  of  wayfarers ' ; 
the  same  correction  of  the  punctuation  is  demanded  in  Job  6^^-^^  (caravans). 
—  ni:3">nj  oS,-i]  nainj  is  a  poet,  synonym  of  -["n,  cf.  Jer.  iS^^. — niS"'Sp>'] 
Ps.  125^*  cf.  vrhpv  Is.  27I;  in  MH.  both  words  are  used  tropically  of  tortuous 
conduct.  mmN^  js  erroneously  repeated  from  the  preceding  line,  to  the 
detriment  of  both  the  poetical  expression  and  the  rhythm.**  —  7.  pTna  iSin 
SN-ii'o]  v.ii^  nM"»£)  Ez.  38"  Zech.  2^  are  unwalled  hamlets,  ""nsn  i  S.  6^? 
Dt.  3^  the  peasant  population  of  such  hamlets;  cf.  also  Esth.  9^^  and  MH. 
rr\Q.  It  is  barely  possible  that  the  abstract  jitid  might  mean  *  peasantry,'  and 
be  construed  as  collective  with  a  plural  verb;  but  as  in  this  collective  use  we 
find  elsewhere  nnon,  it  would  be  preferable  to  emend  here  mtiQ,  which  is 
actually  found  in  a  few  codd.;  so  Stud.  —  nion  "TiDpo'  i>]  the  rel.  ^  with  this 
pointing  twice  in  the  verse,  also  Cant,  i^^;  cf.  Jud.  (P  7^^  8^*^,  Ges.^s  §  36; 
SS.,  s.  V.  The  rel.  v  is  frequent  in  late  BH.  (Cant.,  Eccl.,  &c.),  and  in  MH. 
supplants  T.T'N  altogether;  but  it  is  unsafe  to  infer  that  it  was  of  late  origin, 
and  hence  that  the  half-verse  is  a  gloss  (Bu.),  or  the  whole  poem  of  late  date 
(Seinccke,  Vernes).tt     We  have  equally  little  ground  for  pronouncing  c  a 


*  IL  fortes;  similarly  ©BGMN  l  (Verecundus)  ;  cf.  Hab.  3I4. 
t  Teller,  Schnurrer,  Gas.,  Hollmann,  Be.,  Reuss,  Vernes. 
X  Bu.  §  See  above,  p.  132. 

[|  See  above,  p.  25  and  n.  11  Reconstellation,  p.  ii. 

**  Briggs.  tt  Observe  ntt'N3,  v.^?. 


V.  7-8  145 

peculiarity  of  a  northern  dialect  (Nachtigall,  Bo.,  al.).*  The  relatives  ^•••» 
and  ^  are  probably  of  different  origin,  and  may  have  existed  side  by  side  in 
all  periods  of  the  language.  For  vnnp  6  I  e  H  have  the  third  person,  until 
Deborah  arose;  f^  would  then  be  a  later  change  to  the  first  person,  dictated 
by  the  theory  that  Deborah  was  the  author  of  the  Ode  (v.i).t  It  is  simpler 
to  take  the  form  >nDp  as  2  s.f.  with  the  old  ending  i  (Ges.25  §  44.  2  n.  4) ; 
Rodiger  (1839),  Bo.,  Graetz,  We.,  A.  Miiller,  Reuss,  Kitt. 

8.  Continues  the  portrayal  of  the  situation  in  Israel  at  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  as  is  evident  from  the  second  half-verse.  X—A 
shield  was  not  to  be  seen,  nor  a  spear,  among  for ty^  thousafid  men'] 
the  hyperbole  is  not  to  be  pressed ;  nor  does  the  language  imply 
that  the  Israelites  had  been  disarmed,  as,  according  to  a  late  and 
exaggerated  story  (i  S.  13^^-''),  they  were  by  the  Philistines  in  the 
days  of  Saul.  But,  compared  with  the  well- equipped  soldiers  of 
the  Canaanite  kings,  they  were  a  motley  concourse,  armed  with 
such  rude  weapons  as  each  man  could  lay  his  hands  on,  or  hur- 
riedly fashion  from  the  implements  of  his  peaceful  calling.  § 
Verse  ^^  is  unintelligible.  The  English  version,  following  E  and 
Jewish  commentators,  ||  connects  the  verse  with  the  following,  and 
understands  it  to  refer  to  Israel's  sin  in  worshipping  strange  gods 
and  its  consequence,  a  hostile  invasion  :  "  They  chose  new  gods  ; 
then  was  war  in  the  gates."  f  This  translation  of  the  last  hemi- 
stich is  impossible  ;  that  of  the  first,  for  grammatical  reasons,  very 
improbable.  Moreover,  if  the  poet  had  meant  to  speak  of  the 
apostasy  of  Israel  as  the  cause  of  the  evils  that  had  befallen  it, 
the  natural  place  to  do  so  was  before  v.^  where  the  description  of 
those  evils  begins.  But  that  he  construed  the  history  of  his  times 
as  the  author  of  the  introduction  to  the  Book  of  Judges  does 
(2^^)  is  nowhere  intimated  in  the  Ode,  and  is  in  itself  most 
improbable.      Other   attempts   to    extract   a   meaning   from   the 

*  Neubauer  and  Sayce  thought  that  they  found  the  letters  "^z^  on  a  stone  weight, 
prob.  of  the  8th  cent.  B.C.,  which  was  found  on  the  site  of  Samaria ;  but  the  read- 
ing is  disputed.  See  Acad.,  Aug.  2,  1890,  p.  94;  Athenaeum,  Aug.  2.  1890,  p.  164. 
The  controversy  in  the  Academy,  1894.  is  reprinted  in  PEF.  Qu.  St.,  July.  1894, 
p.  22c^23i ;  284-287.  t  See  We.,  Comp.,  p.  223  n.,  cf.  p.  356 ;  Bi. 

+  E.  Meier  would  put  v.8  after  v.9 ;  cf.  A.  Muller,  Cooke. 

&Such  seems,  at  least,  to  be  the  meaning;  the  mutilated  context  warns  us 
against  too  confident  an  interpretation.        ||  Ra..  Ki..  Tanch..  RLbG..  Abarb. 

H  Cf.  Dt.  32I7  jud.  2II-15.  So  Drus..  Cler..  Schm..  Schnurrer.  Hollm,.  Stud., 
Ba..  Cass.,  Reuss,  Oettli,  al.  mu.    The  first  clause  is  rendered  in  the  same  way  by  ©. 

L 


146  JUDGES 

clauses  are  not  more  successful.  Jerome  translates  :  Nova  bella 
elegit  Dominus,*  et  portas  hostium  ipse  subvertit;  clypeus  et 
hasta  si  apparuerint  in  quadraginta  millibus  Israel.  Ewald  and 
others,  "They  chose  new  judges  {elohwi) ,'' ■\  namely,  Deborah 
and  Barak.  In  the  last  hemistich  ^  and  some  recensions  of  (@ 
find  "  barley  bread  "  (cf.  7^^) .  %     See  critical  note. 

9-11.  The  text  of  these  verses  has  suffered  so  badly  that  there 
is  no  reasonable  hope  that  any  art  or  skill  by  the  critic  will  ever 
be  able  to  restore  it.  The  ancient  versions  found  the  text  in 
substantially  the  same  state  in  which  it  has  been  transmitted  to 
us,  and  had  no  tradition  to  guide  them  in  interpreting  it.  The 
disjointed  words  and  phrases  to  which  we  can  attach  a  probable 
sense  do  not  afford  a  sufficient  basis  for  conjecture;  the  con- 
nexion is  impenetrably  obscure.  We  are  here,  as  more  than  once 
in  the  following  verses,  in  very  much  the  same  case  as  the  epi- 
graphist  who  has  before  him  a  badly  defaced  or  mutilated  inscrip- 
tion, the  difficulty  of  deciphering  which,  he  has  reason  to  suspect, 
is  increased  by  partial  and  unskilful  attempts  at  restoration.  What 
can,  with  more  or  less  confidence,  be  made  out  is  this :  §  ^  My 
heart  (goes  out)  to  the  rulers  (?)  of  Israel  —  those  who  offer 
themselves  freely  among  the  people  —  bless  ye  Yahweh  —  ^^  men 
that  ride  reddish  asses  —  that  sit  on  .  .  .  —  and  that  walk  on  the 
road  .  .  .  — "  from  (?)  a  sound  of  .  .  .  between  watering-places 
—  there  they  rehearse  the  righteous  acts  of  Yahweh  —  the  right- 
eous acts  of  ...  in  Israel  —  then  went  down  to  the  gates  the 
people  of  Yahweh.  || 

Verse  ^  seems  to  repeat  the  motive  of  v.^  but  unfortunately  the 
one  is  as  obscure  as  the  other ;  v.^"  is  generally  explained  as  calling 

*  S,  God  chose  a  new  thing,  Ephrem,  Lth.,  al. ;  generally  understood  of  the  deliv- 
erance of  Israel  by  a  woman.    Cf.  also  RLbG.,  alt. 

t  Meier,  Be.,  Briggs,  al.;  cf.  Ex.  216  227-  8  (Ew.). 

X  It  is  obviously  impossible,  as  it  would  be  unprofitable,  in  the  obscure  and  cor- 
rupt places  of  this  poem,  to  discuss  or  even  record  all  the  guesses  of  commen- 
tators. I  shall  pass  over  in  silence  such  as  seem  to  me  to  have  no  claim  to  serious 
consideration.     The  curious  reader  may  consult  Bachmann. 

^  I  abstain  from  any  interpretative  punctuation. 

II  Cf.  A.  Miiller,  p.  16  f.  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  superfluous  to  give  a  warning 
against  the  inference  that  because  so  many  words  can  be  recognized,  therefore  so 
much  of  the  text  is  sound. 


V.  8-1 1 


'A7 


upon  the  persons  there  described,  perhaps  representing  different 
classes  of  society  or  men  of  different  pursuits,  to  join  in  singing 
Yahweh's  praises  for  the  security  which  they  now  enjoy,  in  con- 
trast to  v.^-^*.  The  archers  (??)  among  the  watering-places  are 
also  supposed  to  have  something  to  do  with  celebrating  Yahweh's 
righteous  acts.  The  first  part  of  the  poem  would  thus  end,  as  it 
began,  with  a  summons  to  laud  and  magnify  Yahweh's  great  name. 
Verse  "^  is,  upon  this  supposition,  entirely  unsuitable  after  v.""  and 
before  v.^^;  it  has  been  conjectured  that  it  is  accidentally  mis- 
placed from  v.^^''.*  This  interpretation  of  v.^""  makes  the  verses 
interrupt  and  delay  the  swift  movement  of  the  poem  in  a  way  that 
is  quite  unlike  the  author. f  After  the  appearance  of  Deborah 
(v/''),  we  expect  to  hear  of  the  preparations  for  the  war,  and  this 
is  confirmed  by  v."'',  —  then  marched  down  to  the  gates  the  people 
of  Yahweh  ;  cf.  also  v.*^     With  v.^^  the  war  itself  begins. 

8.  D-'K'nn  d-ihSn  inn-']  against  the  interpretations  which  make  God  subject, 
it  is  decisive  that  throughout  the  poem  the  name  nmi  is  used;  D-'iyin  new 
things  (mtt'-\n  Is.  48^)  or  new  men  is  in  this  collocation  fatally  ambiguous. 
The  same  objection  holds  against  //  (Israel)  chooses  (or,  7vhen  it  chooses)  J 
new  gods ;  an  author  who  meant  to  be  understood  would  hardly  write  thus. 
Moreover,  the  idea  is  foreign  to  the  poem,  and  is  introduced  in  an  inappro- 
priate place.  Perhaps  a  scribe  may  have  tried  to  restore  the  partly  illegible 
words  of  his  copy  by  the  help  of  Dt.  32I'';  cf.  Jud.  iqI*.  New  judges  ascribes 
to  D-in^N  a  fictitious  sense  and  adds  a  new  element  of  ambiguity.  —  anS  rN 
Dn;;^']  §  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  is  intended  by  this  anomalous  pronun- 
ciation; see  Ges.  Thes.,  and  Ba.  After  tn  we  expect  a  finite  verb,  as  in 
V 11. 13. 19  ('jT  innSj  tn)  22^  and  onyt:'  is  apparently  accus. ;  but  an^  (Ps.  35I 
552. 3t)  would  be  very  suspicious  here,  and  then  he  assaulted  the  gates  would 
hardly  admit  any  interpretation  but  that  of  Jerome.  @apvlmo  \  %  z  ^  ^<i 
dpTov  Kpldtvov,  i.e.  Dni;iJ'  anS  7^^  (cf.  Thdt,  Ephr.,  Aug.),  which  is  certainly 
the  most  natural  pronunciation  of  the  consonants.  For  a  conjecture  based  on 
this,  see  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  103;  cf.  also  Kautzsch,  Textkrit.  Erldut., 
u.  s.  w.,  in  his  translation  of  the  O.T.,  p.  6.  —  hni^  on  pc]  dn  of  the  oath,  or, 
perh.  better,  interrogative,  demanding  for  its  answer  an  emphatic  N^o  !  (Dr^- 
§39/3)-  On  (S^ai-  cKiir-Ti  veaviduv  k.t.L  see  Ew.,  GGA.  1867,  p.  635  f.;  We., 
TBS.  p.  8;   Field,  Hexapla,  ad  loc.    The  meaning  is  not  that  no  one  dared  to 

*Bu. 

t  This  difficulty  would  not  be  so  serious,  if,  with  Ew.  we  made  of  v,2-ii  an  inde- 
pendent poem  ;  see  above,  p.  128.  t  ®  They  chose. 

^  Many  codd.  onS,  onS  (De  Rossi);  against  the  Massora,  OcfUa  we-Ochla, 
No.  373. 


148  JQDGES 

raise  a  hand  against  the  oppression  (Schm.,  Stud.,  al.).  —  The  number,  40,000, 
is  in  notable  contrast  to  the  standing  600,000  of  the  post-exilic  history  of  the 
Exodus  (HoUm.,  Stud.,  We.).  —  9.  '?STi'>  ^-^pinS  o*^]  S,  Schm.,  E\v.,  al.  supply 
-iDN  says  ;  better,  simply,  belongs  to,  goes  out  to,  in  gratitude  and  affection  (H 
diligit,  Ra.,  Ki.,  Cl«r.,  most  moderns),  ppin  (Is.  lo^)  seems  to  be  the  same  as 
p|"|np  v.^*  (see  there)  Dt.  33^^;  the  form  is  best  explained  as  ptcp.  Qal. — 
'Ji  D373  DOnjriDn]  closely  resembles  v.-,  and  is  equally  obscure;  the  ptcp.  is 
hardly  appositive  to  D^ppin  (Stud.),  but  its  counterpart  in  loose  construction 
(Schm.,  Schnur.).  — 10.  I  see  no  way  to  do  anything  with  •in-'t',  on  which, 
unfortunately,  the  understanding  of  the  whole  verse  depends.  It  is  commonly 
translated,  tell  forth,  proclaim,  laud  (^IL,  most  comm.;  cf.  Ps.  1052  145^); 
others  render  consider,  meditate,  muse  (Cler.,  Schm.,  Schnur.,  Herd.,  Ba., 
al.),  which  the  usage  would  rather  admit,  but  which  is  even  less  suitable  in 
*.he  context.  —  nnnx  mjnN]  on  the  colour  (gray,  or  tawny,  inclining  to  red) 
see  A.  Miiller,  p.  4-6.  On  riding  asses,  see  on  10*.  —  p"ip  S;?  i3i:>>]  the  noun 
is  unknown.  The  older  interpreters,  by  an  impossible  etymology,  explain  it, 
Judgement,  or  place  of  judgement;  most  moderns  derive  it  from  np  (plur. 
CiD  3^^),*  with  Aramaic  plural  ending.  As  the  sense  garments  is  obviously 
unsuitable,  it  is  assumed  that  the  word  had  the  wider  sense,  cloths;  hence 
either,  saddle-cloths,  housings,  or  (rich)  carpets  (so  the  most).  The  phrases 
are  supposed  by  many  to  designate  different  social  classes,  with  great  diversity 
of  opinion  as  to  what  classes  or  how  many;  others,  laying  the  emphasis  on 
the  verbs,  imagine  the  call  to  be  addressed  to  every  Israelite,  whatever  he  may 
be  about;  cf.  Dt.  6^  Ps.  139^  Is.  37'^^  pg.  ji  &c.  (so  Stud.,  Reuss,  al.).— 
11.  D-'^NU'O  ^3  D^^fna  '?Vp]  ^''Xi'nD  t  is  formally  possible  as  denom.  Piel  from 
fn  *  arrow,' '  men  that  shoot  arrows'  (Ki.,  RLbG.,  Kuypers,  Lette,  Ges.,  al. 
mu.) ;  others,  *  cast  lots  with  arrows '  (Schultens),  for  the  division  of  the  booty 
(Schnur.,  al.);  while  others  still  derive  it  directly  from  v^'n,  to  which  they  give 
the  meaning  *  divide  '  sc.  the  spoil  (pSn ;  Hollm.,  Stud.,  Ba.) .  J  But  the  difficulty 
lies  not  more  in  this  word  than  in  the  preposition  p  and  the  noun  diijn'.T'D 
(lit.  *  places  where  water  is  drawn ').  There  is  no  clue  to  the  meaning  of  the 
line. — ian^  du']  the  obscurity  of  the  preceding  prevents  our  seeing  to  what 
place  oa'  refers,  or  what  is  the  subject  of  the  verb,  njn  1 1^^  is  frequently 
compared  with  Arab.  ^^i3  iv.,  *  eulogize  '  (or  '  defame  '),  But  as  equivalent 
of  Heb.  ■r\y:?  the  word  is  not  conceivable  in  old  Hebrew.  —  nin>  mpni*]  seem- 
ingly manifestations  of  his  justice  in  defending  and  delivering  his  people;  cf. 
I  S.  12'^  Mi.  6^  &c. — SxnB'O  ijino  npnx]  see  on  v.'^.  In  the  context  uins 
must  be  gen.  subj. ;  country  people  (Ba.)  will  not  do  here;  rulership,  rule 
(Be.)  or  leadership,  leaders  (Stud.,  Reuss,  al.)  are  unsupported,  and  do  not 


*  Hiller,  Schnur.,  Ges.,  al.  plur. 

t  Every  conceivable    Heb.  etymology  of  this  word  was  discussed  by  Jewish 
scholars  in  the  Middle  Ages ;  see  Tanch.,  quoted  in  Ges.  Tkes,  p.  511. 
X  Bu.  conjectures  cpn^D  Sip,  Hark,  how  joyful  they  are! 


V.  12  149 

suit  V J,  —  'Ji  nn>^  tn]  many  commentators,  taking  un'*  as  jussive  continuing 
the  imv.  in^5i',  feel  constrained  to  make  a  jussive  also  of  i"n%  either  emending 
n~\;  (Schnur.)  or  forcing  this  sense  upon  the  pf.  (Hollm.,  al.).  The  gates 
(metonomy  for  cities;  cf.  ©)  are  thought  by  some  to  be  those  of  the  Israelites, 
to  which  they  now  return  in  peace  and  security,  cf.  v.^  (so,  with  various 
modifications.  Stud.,  Ke.,  Ba.,  al.);  others,  with  greater  probability,  interpret 
of  the  gates  of  the  enemy's  cities,  against  which  Israel  now  marched  (It,  Ew., 
Be.,  Reuss,  al.). 

12-22.  Israel  marches  into  battle ;  defeat  and  flight  of  the 
Canaanites. — The  second  part  of  the  Ode.  After  an  opening 
apostrophe  to  Deborah  and  Barak,  we  see  the  tribes  march  down 
to  the  fray  and  hear  the  reproachful  questions  which  the  absence 
of  others  evokes.  Then  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  combat ;  the 
heavens  themselves  fight  against  Sisera,  the  torrents  of  Kishon 
sweep  his  proud  host  to  ruin.  The  text  of  v.^^'^  is  so  corrupt  that 
we  can  hardly  read ,  more  than  the  names  of  the  tribes ;  but  their 
general  purport  is  manifest.  From  v.^^  the  text  is  better  pre- 
served.— 12.  Rouse  thee,  rouse  thee,  Deborah;  rouse  thee,  rouse 
thee,  strike  up  the  song]  interpreters  who  assume  that  in  these 
words  Deborah  calls  upon  herself  to  sing  the  Ode  of  Victory  find 
it  hard  to  explain  why  this  invocation  stands  thus  in  the  middle 
of  the  Ode,  instead  of  beginning  it.*  The  explanation  of  Studer 
and  others,  that  this  is  the  real  beginning  of  the  Ode,  to  which 
v.^ "  is  merely  a  prooemium,  hardly  relieves  the  difficulty ;  we 
should  have  to  go  a  step  farther,  and  with  Ewald,  regard  v.-"^^  as 
a  distinct  poem.  The  complete  parallel  between  the  call  to 
Deborah  in  v.^*  and  that  to  Barak  in  v.^^  makes  it  improbable, 
however,  that  in  the  former  Deborah  addresses  herself;  and  we 
have  seen  other  reasons  for  believing  that  the  heroine  is  not  the 
author  of  the  Ode.  In  view  of  the  following  context,  verse  ^^^  is 
best  understood  as  a  summons  to  Barak,  not  to  participate  in  the 
celebration  of  the  triumph,  but  to  attack  the  enemy ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, v.^-%  which  cannot  be  separated  from  v.^-^  and  referred  to 
in  earher  time,t  is  to  be  explained,  not  as  a  call  to  Deborah  to 
sing  a  song  of  victory,  but  to  strike  up  the  song  of  battle.  %     The 

*  On  this  difficulty  see,  e.g.  Schnur.,  who  would  supply,  /  said.  Niebuhr  in  his 
Reconstellation  actually  puts  v.i2  in  the  place  of  v.2.  f  Stud.,  Ba.,  al. 

X  Schnur.,  Kohl.,  We.,  Reuss,  cf.  Bi.,  Cass.  (Reminiscenz  an  das  Schlachtlied 
selbst). 


1 50  JUDGES 

verse  is  then  in  a  suitable  place.  The  poet  sees  the  people  of 
Yahweh  marching  to  attack  the  foe  (v.^^'')  and  breaks  in  with  an 
apostrophe  to  the  two  leaders ;  to  Deborah,  to  fire  the  hearts  of 
her  countrymen  by  song ;  to  Barak,  to  make  prisoners  the  proud 
foemen.*  The  obscurity  of  the  preceding  verses,  however,  makes 
it  impossible  to  say  with  confidence  that  this  is  the  transition 
intended  by  the  poet.  —  Up,  Barak;  lead  captive  thy  captive 
train,  son  of  Abinoa77i\  a  bold  prolepsis ;  but  not  an  unnatural 
one  for  a  poet  after  the  event.  With  an  equally  admissible  pro- 
nunciation of  the  Hebrew  word  we  might  translate,  lead  captive 
thy  captors,  and  surmise  that  Barak,  like  Gideon  (8^^-^^),  had  his 
own  wrongs  to  avenge  as  well  as  those  of  his  people,  a  touch  of 
personal  interest  which  we  should  welcome. f 

13-1 5 a    The  tribes  are  in  motion  against  the  enemy.  —  The 

verses  are  so  mutilated  that  we  can  make  out  Uttle  more  than  the 
bare  names  of  the  tribes.  — 13.  The  second  member  may  be 
read.  The  people  of  Yahweh  marched  down  for  him  %  as  heroes 
(cf.  v.^^)  ;  something  of  the  same  kind  seems  to  have  stood  in  the 
preceding  line,  of  which  there  remains,  then  marched  down  .  .  . 
nobles.  In  view  of  the  parallel  it  might  be  conjectured  that  the 
name  Israel  was  originally  found  in  this  line.  — 14.  In  the  first 
two  Hues  nothing  is  certain  but  the  names,  Ephraim  and  Benja- 
min. "From  Ephraim  their  root  (is)  in  Amalek  —  after  thee 
Benjamin  among  thy  peoples  "  §  —  is  nonsense  which  must  give 
the  most  courageous  translator  pause.  —  From  Machir  marched 
down  truncheon-bearers,  and  from  Zebulun  those  who  carry  the 
muster-master's  stajf]  Machir  is  here  Manasseh,  of  which  tribe  it 
was  the  principal  branch.  ||  In  later  times  the  seats  of  Machir 
were  in  Gilead ;  but  there  is  good  ground  for  the  opinion  that  the 
conquest  of  this  region  was  made,  not  in  the  first  invasion  of  the 
lands  east  of  the  Jordan  by  Israel,  but  subsequently,  by  a  reflux 


♦  This  is  preferable  to  the  explanation  which  makes  the  words  a  shout  of  the 
Israelite  host  as  they  go  into  battle  (Stud,  alt.,  al.). 

t  We.,  Sta.,  Bu.,  Kitt.  +  (ffiB  al. ;  ^  for  me. 

$  That  is,  after  thee  came  Benjamin,  &c.  (Schnur.,  Kohl.,  Hollm.,  Stud.,  al.),  or, 
after  thee,  O  Benjamin!   (Schm.,  alt.,  E\v.,  Mei.,  Ba.) 

II  Machir  the  first-born  son  of  Manasseh  (Jos.  17I)  ;  or  his  only  son  (Gen.  5023 
Num.  262aff-).     See  Kue.,  Th.  T.  xi.  463  ff. 


V.  12-15  I  51 

movement  from  Western  Palestine.*  On  Zebulun,  see  on  i^. 
The  jnuster-master  (lit.  writer')  in  the  later  military  organization 
(2  K.  25^^)  was  an  officer  who  had  charge  of  the  enumeration 
and  enrolment  of  the  troops;  a  kind  of  adjutant  general.f  In 
our  text  it  is  probably  the  chieftains  themselves  who  muster  the 
quotas  of  their  own  clans ;  the  poet  evidently  seeks  changing 
expressions  for  the  often  recurring  idea,  chiefs.  — 15*.  Issachar, 
which  is  not  named  at  all  in  ch.  i, }  is  here  mentioned  with  special 
honour  as  the  tribe  of  Deborah,  and  apparently  of  Barak  also. 
Unfortunately  the  text  is  here  again  in  such  disorder  that  the 
latter  point  at  least  is  extremely  doubtful.  The  first  line  may  per- 
haps be  made  to  read.  And  the  princes  of  Issachar  were  with 
Deborah,  or,  were  the  people  of  Deborah ;  the  rest  defies  transla- 
tion. The  second  Hne  connects  Barak  also  in  some  way  with  Issa- 
char ;  but,  in  accordance  with  the  uniform  structure  of  the  preceding 
verses,  we  should  rather  expect  the  name  of  another  tribe  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  omission  of  Naphtali  from  this  list  is  strange, 
especially  in  view  of  v.^^.  In  the  third  Hne  the  words,  into  the 
plain  .  .  .  at  his  feet,  suffice  to  show  that  the  verse,  like  those 
before  it,  describes  the  tribes  pouring  down  from  their  hills  into 
the  plain  to  give  battle  to  the  Canaanites.  The  original  seats  of 
Issachar  seem  to  have  been  south  of  Naphtali  and  southeast 
of  Zebulun,  probably  in  the  hills  between  the  two  valleys  which 
descend  from  the  eastern  end  of  the  Great  Plain  to  the  Jordan 
(Wady  el-Bireh,  Nahr  Galud)  ;  it  may  comparatively  early  have 
occupied  a  part  of  the  range  of  Gilboa,  south  of  the  latter  valley. 
Toward  the  northwest  it  reached  to  the  foot  of  Tabor,  where  it 
met  both  Zebulun  and  Naphtali.  §  The  territory  occupied  by 
Issachar  was  one  in  which  it  was  peculiarly  difficult  to  maintain 
its  independence,  and  in  Gen.  49^^  the  tribe  is  taunted  for  the 
ignoble  spirit  in  which  it  preferred  peace  to  freedom.  || 

12.    m>']  the  accent  is  shifted  for  rhythmical  variety,  the  first  two  being 
milra,  the  last  two  mil' el;  cf.  Is.  51^  Ges."-^^  §  72  Anm.  3;   Bo.  §  1134;  Ba., 

*  Smend,  HVVB'^.  p.  936;  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  149;  Bu.,  Richt.  «.  Sam.,  p.  34  ff. 
t  JDMich.,  Schnur.,  Ba.,  al.    Cf.  also  i  Mace.  5^2,  +  See  above,  p.  49. 

§  All  this  is  merely  conjectural ;    the  tribe  is  not  named  in  Jud.  i,  and  the 
boundaries  and  towns  assigned  to  it  in  Jos.  19I7-23  represent  a  much  later  time. 
U  See  Sta..  G  VI.  i.  p.  170  f. 


152  JUDGES 

p.  367.  — The  alliteration  nai  .  .  .  n-^ij-i  is  very  likely  designed;  *  with  -)3T 
TIC  cf.  2  S.  22^  Dt.  31^'^.  —  qo'^  n^a'i]  '<2Tff  collective;  cf.  Ps.  681^  ob'  noB? 
(Yahweh) ;  so  (B%K  and  most  comm.  It  is  possible  to  pronounce  ^oc*  ihy 
captors,  cf.  Is.  14^;  so  S  a,  Lth.,  JDMich.,  We.,  Sta.,  Bu.  — 13.  in^  bis\  the 
context  requires  in  both  instances  the  perf.  -in^  ((g^^N^E,  JDMich.,  Schnur., 
Stud.,  Ew.,  Be.,  and  most  recent  scholars) ;  cf.  nn;  v.^- 1*.  ^  -,-,>  undoubtedly 
intends  an  apocop.  impf.  Pi.  from  mi  (Ra.,  Ki.;  cf.  Stud.;  Ges.25  §  69,  i  c). 

—  onnsS  nniJ']  nnt*  is  the  survivor  of  a  battle  or  calamity,  often  parallel  to 
tD>SD;  collectively  Is.  i^.  There  is  nothing  in  the  usage  of  the  word  to 
warrant  the  rendering  a  little  band  (Kohl.,  Stud.,  Cass.,  Reuss,  and  most)  f; 
nor  can  nnns':',  in  view  of  the  parallel  onuj^  (cf.  v. 23),  J  refer  to  the  enemy 
(^,  Rabb.,  JDMich.,  Schnur.,  Herd.,  Stud.,  al.).— iiH  (cf.  IL^)  joins  d;;  to 
the  first  member  of  the  verse,  §  to  carry  out  its  misinterpretation  of  ni"';  it  is 
rightly  connected  with  the  following  (mni  d;?)  by  (g^^^,  Xa6s  ^vpiov  Kari^-f] 
avT(f  iv  TOiS  KparaioTs,  \\  in  which  avr^  (i>)  is  also  to  be  preferred  to  fE  ^'?.l 
In  the  light  of  the  parallehsm,  it  may  be  conjectured  that  the  unintelligible 
S  intt'  in  v."' is  a  corruption  of  '7>s-\:i'\ — In  onujj  the  2  is  perhaps  in  the 
character  of,  as  (Ges.^^  §  119,  3  b.  i),  rather  than  among ;  certainly  not  against. 
— 14.    Dn£3N  ""Jd]  "ij:3  twice  in  this  verse  (cf.  jSuirj  v.^)  Is.  46^  Mi.  'j^'^  Pss.  Job. 

—  pSny^  Diyn;:']  is  commonly  translated,  their  root  is  in  Amalek  (or,  whose 
rooty  &c.),  and  explained,  they  are  firmly  established  in  that  part  of  the 
territory  of  Ephraim  called  the  Amalekites'  Mountain,  that  is,  in  the  region  of 
Pirathon  (is^^  see  comm.  ad  loc.) ;  **  so  Hiller  (1707),  Schnur.,  Kohl,,  Hollm., 
and  almost  all  comm.  in  the  present  century.  But,  apart  from  the  enigmatical 
form  of  the  expression,  the  author  cannot  mean  that  only  those  clans  of 
Ephraim  which  were  settled  in  that  district  came  to  the  war  (Ew.,  Be.) ;  and 
that  that  region  was  the  centre  and  stronghold  of  the  tribe  is  neither  in 
accord  with  the  evidence  of  history  nor  relevant  in  this  context.  The  words 
stand  in  the  place  where  we  should  have  the  predicate  of  the  sentence;  it  is 
equally  awkward  to  have  to  borrow  a  verb  from  ini  v.i^  (Schnur.,  Stud.)  or 
from  nn">  y}^  (Ba.).  uvw  is  probably  the  corruption  of  a  verb,  and  for 
pSnj;3  we  may  conjecture  that  the  original  reading  was  pDj?3,  which  is  given 
by  ©A.PLMO  else;   cf.  v.^^  'Ji  nStt*  pnj,'^  (see  there).  —  yoi^y^  pD''j2  innN] 

♦  See  on  the  whole  subject,  Casanowicz,  "  Paronomasia  in  the  O.T.,"  JBL.  xii. 
1893,  p.  105  ff. ;  also  separately,  Boston,  1894. 

t  A  remnant,  that  is,  in  comparison  with  the  enemy ;  a  little  band  of  Israelites 
who  have  escaped  from  former  defeats.  Ba.  quotes  Verg.,  reliquiae  Danaum  atque 
immitis  Achillei. 

X  Remnant  of  the  nobles  (Hollm.,  Ew.,  Mei.,  Be.,  al.)  is  difficult  to  justify  gram- 
matically. ^  So  among  modern  interpreters,  Hollm.,  Ew.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Ba. 

II  Some  Heb.  codd.  connect  in  the  same  way  (De  Rossi) ;  so  W.  Green, 
JDMich.,  Schnur.,  Kohl.,  Mei.,  Donalds.,  Bi.,  Cass.,  Reuss,  Briggs,  al.  mu. 

t  Kohl. 

♦*  The  older  commentators  explained  the  words  of  wars  against  Amalek ;  so 
i!r,  Rabb.,  Ephr.,  a  Lyra,  Cler.,  al. 


V.  15  153 

the  same  Greek  texts  give  us  ynn,  which  may  with  reason  be  preferred  (iky 
brother  Benjamiii) ;  but  Tir^^v  is  suspicious  on  account  not  only  of  the  Ara- 
maic form  of  the  plural  (cf.  Neh.  922.24^,  but  even  more  of  the  plural  itself; 
a^nong  thy  kinsmen  (popular es)  is  less  natural  here  than  in  thy  ranks,  ipy^. 
It  vi^ould  be  rash,  however,  to  emend  in  this  desperate  context.  —  D"'|"i(7.np] 
ppnn  Nu.  2 1 18  syn.  of  njyc'^,  Gen.  4910  parallel  to  mt,  is  a  staff,  carried  by 
men  of  rank  and  authority;  here  it  is  the  man  who  carries  such  a  staff  as  the 
emblem  of  his  authority  (see  the  parallel  clause);  cf.  Is.  33^2  (||  -^q^^  -jSd) 
Ps.  60^  Dt.  3321  (?).  The  interpretation,  law-giver,  law-giver'' s  staff,  is  merely 
an  etymological  deduction,  and  is  not  sustained  by  usage.  —  idd  C33tt'3  d-'DIJ'd] 
J  "jtrD  cf.  I  K.  22^*,  the  usual  construction  in  Arab.;  we  might  also  render,  those 
who  march  luith  the  i03'^,  &c.;  cf.  on  4^.  With  idd  in  this  use  cf.  -r^v  (from  a 
root  of  similar  meaning;  often  coupled  with  tasb'),  cf.  2  Chr.  26^^ .  In 
2  K.  2519  Y-\ii7\  d;?  nx  N''axDn  njxh  na'  lijon,  N:3xn  nc'  may  reasonably  be 
suspected  of  being  a  gloss;  in  Jer.  522^  the  words  have  been  rendered  gram- 
matically correct  by  dropping  the  article  before  isD.  Klost.  takes  -ii3D  (or 
jdd)  as  n.  pr.  Bu.  conjecturally  joins  nfjD  in  Jud.  5I*  to  the  following  verse: 
nnuT  o;?  natt>!yo  >nb*  nsD;  cf.  W.  Green  (1753),  'J1  onty  •n£3p.  —  15a.  ncfi 
nm3T  Dj;  '^•2i:fVi2']  my  princes  is  obviously  impossible;  the  correction  ^"y^ 
(constr.  before  preposition),  princes  in  Issachar  (Schnur.,  Stud.,  Be.,  al.),* 
though  grammatically  admissible,  is  otherwise  not  much  better;  ^yw^  nc  the 
princes  of  Issachar  gives  a  satisfactory  sense,  but  we  cannot  be  confident  that 
this  restores  the  original  text.  For  Dj;  we  might  also  read  ny  (Bu.).  —  isti'tyn 
pi3  p]  Stud,  conjectures  that  instead  of  this  second  Issachar,  which  neither 
©  nor  It  seem  to  have  read,  the  original  reading  was  Naphtali ;  cf.  4^  5I8. 
The  insertion  of  3  before  the  first  member  of  the  comparison  removes  the 
grammatical  harshness;  but  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  worse  anticlimax  than, 
and  as  was  Issachar  so  was  Barak.  —  vVj"i3  rhy  pDV^]  the  passive  is  certainly 
wrong  (Miiller) ;  the  unintelligibility  of  the  preceding  clause  forbids  us  to 
say  more  than  this.  Perhaps  the  same  verb  which  in  v.^^  has  been  corrupted 
to  Dtt'ic  originally  stood  here  also. 

15^-18.  The  encomium  of  the  tribes  which  under  their  gallant 
chieftains  marched  down  to  the  fray  (v.-^"^^'^)  is  followed  by 
reproaches  of  those  who  were  missing  from  the  ranks  of  Israel ; 
their  conduct  is  contrasted  with  the  shining  example  of  Zebulun 
and  Naphtali  (v.^^).  Natural  as  the  transition  is,  the  text  can 
scarcely  be  intact;  a  stichos  corresponding  to  v.^^  seems  to  be 
lacking.f  — 15^.   Modern  interpreters  nearly  all  translate,  By  the 

*  Other  explanations  of  the  form  give  us  grammatical  anomalies ;  see  Ba.  It 
will  probably  not  occur  to  any  one  to  fortify  the  hypothesis  of  a  plural  absolute 
in  >  by  the  plurals  of  this  form  in  the  Senjerli  inscriptions  (see  D.  H.  Miiller, 
WZKM.  vii.  1893,  p.  119  f.).  t  A.  Muller. 


154  JUDGES 

watercourses  of  Reuben  (RV.)  ;  cf.  Job  20*^*  The  old  versions 
all,  in  one  sense  or  another,  render,  divisions j\  which  is  probably 
to  be  preferred  ;  the  fractions  of  the  tribe  were  divided  in  counsel, 
and  squandered  in  dissensions  the  time  for  deeds.  —  Great  dis- 
cussions'] lit.  investigations  of  mind ;  to  find  out  one  another's 
feeling  and  purpose.  The  text  is  to  be  corrected  by  v.^^^,  %  where 
in  the  repetition  of  the  line  the  important  word  has  been  better 
preserved.  For  the  meaning,  cf.  i  S.  20^^.  — 16.  The  reproaches 
cast  upon  the  recreant  tribes  are  couched  in  the  form  of  taunting 
questions.  —  Why  satest  thou  between  the  .  .  .  ?]  the  last  word, 
which  occurs  besides  in  Gen.  49"^  in  a  similar  figure  for  base 
inertness  (cf.  also  Ps.  dZ^^,  is  translated  by  most  recent  inter- 
preters, folds,  enclosures  surrounded  by  a  paling  or  hedge  for  the 
protection  of  the  flocks.  §  The  rendering,  ash-heaps,  or  heaps 
of  refuse,  by  the  villages  or  encampments  of  the  tribe,  adheres 
more  closely  to  the  concrete  meaning  of  the  cognate  Hebrew 
words,  which  is  here  our  only  clue.  In  the  next  clause  the  trans- 
lation of  Jerome,  after  some  of  the  Greek  versions,  is  generally 
adopted,  ut  audias  sibilos  gregum  ;  which  recent  scholars  rightly 
interpret,  not  of  the  bleating  of  the  flocks,  ||  but  of  the  piping  of 
shepherds  among  their  flocks;^  better,  perhaps,  of  the  calls 
of  the  shepherds  to  their  flocks.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is 
repeated  by  mistake  from  the  end  of  v.^^.**  The  seats  of  Reuben 
were  east  of  the  Dead  Sea  in  northern  Moab  (Num.  32^'^),  where 
its  relation  to  the  native  population  was  probably  not  unlike  that 
of  Asher  and  Naphtali  among  the  Canaanites  in  Galilee  (i^^^-^). 
Like  Simeon,  it  seems  never  to  have  settled  down  to  agri- 
culture. In  ancient  times,  according  to  the  patriarchal  legend, 
one  of  the  leading  tribes  of  Israel,  the  first  of  the  Leah  group,  it 
early  in  the  historical  period  dwindled  into  insignificance.  In  the 
Moabite  inscription  of  Mesha  it  is  not  mentioned ;  Gad  has  taken 

*  JDMich.,  Schnur.,  Herd.,  Kohl.,  Hollm.,  Ew.,  Be.,  Ba.,  al. 
t  So  also  Schm.,  Stud.,  Fiirst,  Delitzsch  (on  Job  20I"),  MV.,  al.  {districts). 
X  Houbig.,  Kohl.;  cf.  the  ancient  versions. 

§  Pagninus,  Lth.,  AV.,  Ludolf,  Teller,  Kohl.,  Ges.,  Hollm.,  Ew.,  al.  mu. 
II  S,  Lth.,  Bochart,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Schnur.,  Herd.,  al. 

H  Gcs.,  Hollm..  Stud..  Ew.,  Be.,  Ba.,  al.  mu. ;    the  pastoria  sibila,  Ovid,  Met., 
xiii,  785. 

*♦  Teller,  kcuss,  A.  Miiller.  Cooke.     Bi.  conj.  that  a  line  (v.^Gc)  has  been  lost. 


V.  15-17  155 

its  place ;  and  in  Dt.  33'"'  the  prayer  for  Reuben  is,  May  Reuben 
live  and  not  die.  The  fate  of  the  tribe  was  ascribed  to  an  ances- 
tral curse,  Gen.  49^''-,  the  cause  and  meaning  of  which  are  not 
clear.*  — 17.  Gilead  remained  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan^ 
Gilead  is  the  region  east  of  the  Jordan,  north  and  south  of  the 
Jabbok  (Nahr  ez-Zerqa) ,  with  shifting  limits  in  either  direction.f 
The  name  is  sometimes  used  for  the  whole  of  the  Israelite  pos- 
sessions east  of  the  Jordan,  of  which  it  was  indeed  the  chief  part. 
It  was  occupied  by  the  tribe  of  Gad,  which  is  doubtless  meant  in 
our  verse.  %  The  disposition  of  Reuben  and  Gad  to  pursue  their 
own  interests  and  let  their  brethren  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jor- 
dan fight  their  own  battles  is  reflected  in  Nu.  32^^-. 

The  more  distant  northern  tribes  also  stood  apart  and  were  not 
represented  in  the  ranks  of  Israelite  warriors.  —  And  Dan,  why 
does  he  live  neighbour  to  the  ships .?]  the  words  are  difficult ;  but 
there  seems  no  sufficient  reason  for  suspecting  the  text,  §  which  is 
supported  by  the  parallel  Une  about  Asher.  This  parallel  also 
shows  that  the  northern  settlements  of  Dan  (18^'^)  are  meant,  || 
not  the  earlier  seats  of  the  tribe  in  the  southwest  (i^*-;  see 
there)  .^  In  neither  place  did  Dan  actually  come  down  to  the 
seaboard.**  The  words  would  be  quite  inexplicable  if  we  had  to 
translate,  why  did  he  remain  in  the  ships  (RV.) .  The  rendering 
adopted  above,  which  gives  the  meaning  of  the  verb  more  exactly, 
removes  the  difficulty,  if  we  may  interpret.  Why  does  he  live  as 
a  dependent,  under  the  protection  of  the  Phoenician  sea-farers  ?  ft 
This  was  probably  the  situation  of  the  Danites,  as  it  had  been  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Laish  before  them  (iS''-^*^).  The  only  objection 
to  this  explanation  is,  that  ships  is  a  somewhat  remote  metonymy 
for  a  seagoing  people ;  compare,  however,  '  ship  coast '  for  sea 
coast.  Gen.  49^^.  —  Asher  abode  toward  the  coast  of  the  Great 
Sea']  cf.  Gen.  49^^,  of  Zebulun.  —  And  remains  by  its  landings'] 

*  See  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  151  f.  f  See  on  116. 

t  Cf.  Ps.  6o7.    Sb  here  reads  Gad.    The  conquests  of  Manasseh  in  northern 
Gilead  are  probably  later  than  the  time  of  Deborah ;  see  above,  on  v.i4. 
§  Bu.,  Richi.  u.  Sam.,  p.  i6  n. ;  cf.  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  65  n. 
II  Procop.,  Ki.,  Cler.,  Stud.,  Cass.  H  Kohl.,  HoUm.,  Be.,  Ba.,  al. 

**  Even  in  Jos.  19*6  Joppa  lies  outside  his  border  (Ki.,  Stud.), 
ft  Cf.  <S  eis  tL  napoLKel  nXoiois  ]  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  Danites  served 
on  Phoenician  ships  (Stud.,  al.). 


156  JUDGES 

the  last  word  is  found  only  here  ;  31  in  portubus  morabatur.  The 
parallel  line,  the  meaning  of  the  root,  and  the  use  of  derivatives 
of  the  corresponding  root  in  Arabic  make  the  general  sense  suf- 
ficiently certain.  Asher  occupied  the  mountainous  inland,  behind 
the  Phoenician  coast,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  Asherites  may 
have  settled  in  the  Phoenician  towns,  as  they  did  among  the 
Canaanites  in  the  interior.  There  is  no  reason  to  imagine  that 
they  had  established  themselves  on  the  seaboard  in  any  other 
way ;  and  in  view  of  what  is  said  of  Dan  it  is  hardly  necessary  to 
press  the  language  even  as  far  as  this.  See  further  on  i^^^-. — 
18.  In  strong  contrast  to  the  unpatriotic  or  cowardly  conduct  of 
the  eastern  and  northern  tribes  stands  the  conspicuous  gallantry 
of  Zebulun  and  Naphtali.*  —  Zebulun  is  a  band  that  recklessly 
exposed  itself  to  deatJi]  lit.  that  co^itenmed  its  life  to  death.-\  — 
And  Naphtali,  upon  the  heights  of  the  open  field~\  Naphtali  dis- 
played equal  valour.  The  last  words  cannot  refer  to  the  home  of 
Naphtali  among  the  hills  of  Galilee,  j  but  to  the  field  on  which 
the  two  tribes  won  this  renown.  §  The  expression  seems,  how- 
ever, inappropriate  to  the  scene  of  the  battle  against  Sisera,  in 
the  plain  on  the  banks  of  the  Kishon  (v.^^-  ^^) .  Many  commen- 
tators think  that  Mt.  Tabor  (4*'-  ^^-  ^^)  is  meant ;  ||  but  Tabor  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Ode,  which  locates  the  field  of  battle,  not  at  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  (4^^*),  but  on  the  other  side  of  the  plain 
near  Taanach.  The  word  used  for  heights  does  not  necessarily 
denote  a  great  elevation,  but  is  rather  a  relative  term  (cf.  Prov.  8^ 
9'")  ;  and  may  perhaps  be  employed  here  of  the  mounds  and 
hillocks  in  the  plain,  which,  however  inconsiderable,  were  positions 
of  advantage  in  the  battle,  especially  as  rallying  points  for  the 
hard-pressed  Canaanites  before  the  rout  became  complete. 
These  elevations,  where  the  enemy  fought  with  the  ferocity  of 


*  According  to  ch.  4  these  two  tribes  furnished  the  whole  army  of  Barak. 

t  For  parallels  from  Arabic  sources  illustrating  the  use  of  the  verb,  see  Schul- 
tens,  Animadvcrsiones,  p.  66 ;  Lette,  Schnur.,  ad  loc.  Gf.  e.g.,  Hamasa,  ed.  Freytag, 
p.  47. 

J  Schrn.,  Cler.,  Schnur.;  the  mountain  tribes  in  contrast  to  the  servile  low- 
landers,  Stud.,  Ew. 

^  Kohl.,  Hollm.,  al. 

II  Ra.,  RLbG.,  Abarb.,  and  many;  where  the  assembled  tribes  were  filled  with 
heroic  valour  (Ba.). 


V.  I7-I8  157 

desperation,  Zebulun  and  Naphtali  with  reckless  hardihood 
stormed  and  carried.  So,  at  least,  we  can  imagine  it ;  a  certain 
interpretation  is  hardly  to  be  given.  There  is  something  tempting 
in  3L's  in  regio7ie  Mcrome ;  the  words  would  then  refer  to  former 
exhibitions  of  impetuous  bravery  by  these  tribes,  perhaps  against 
Jabin;  but  the  text  of  J^  is  supported  by  ({5,  and  it  probably 
does  not  represent  a  different  reading,  but  an  ungrammatical 
translation. 

15b.  piN-i  mjSsa]  in  Job  20"  nuSo  is  explained  in  the  parallel  line  >Snj 
.-iNDm  t^3n.  D>jS3,  usually  in  the  phrase  □''S  ijSd,  are  primarily  canals  and 
ditches  distributing  water  for  irrigation;  cf  Prov.  21^  Ps.  46^  and  the  vb. 
Job  38^*^,  also  Arab,  falag*  We  can  hardly  imagine,  however,  that  Reuben 
was  at  this  time  so  far  advanced  in  agriculture;  v.^''  shows  that  it  was  chiefly 
a  pastoral  tribe.  For  this  reason  it  seems  better  to  understand  the  word  here 
of  the  divisions  of  the  tribe;  cf  nuSs,  nuSiJD,  2  Chr.  35-'-  ^2,  and  cognate  words 
in  Aram,  and  Syr.f  —  3*7  ''i~!i7n]  -"ppn  Is.  lo^^  'decrees,  edicts';  the  form  is 
scarcely  to  be  derived  from  ph  (01.,  p.  628;  Ges.^^,  p.  261),  but  from  a  parallel 
form  heq ;  cf  Sx  cstr.  pi.  ^SSx  Jer,  6*.  But  no  meaning  that  can  legitimately 
be  given  to  pn  is  suitable  here.  J  The  true  reading  is  preserved  in  the 
misplaced  repetition  of  this  line,  v.^^^^,  ;dS  npn;  see  there.  — 16.  Dinsrnn  jo] 
Gen.  49"^  cf  D^-iD-.r  JO  judzti  dn  Ps.  681*.  The  ancient  versions  for  the  most 
part  render  between  the  territories,  boundaries,  §  or  between  the  ranks  of  the 
two  armies  (S) ;  [|  (gSGN  j^  ju(j_  ^^^  fx^aov  ttjs  diyofiias,  cf.  Gr.  Venet.  Gen,  49^* 
ivh.  tA  i]iJ.L(f>6pTia;  so  Ki.  on  Gen,  /.c.  and  Lex.  s.v.;  Schm.  The  interpreta- 
tion enclosure  is  found  in  Abulw.  Lex.  s.v.,  Ki.  on  Jud.  5^"  {sheep-pens'), 
Abarb.,  Pagninus,  Ludolf  {Lex.  Aethiop.,  1661,  p,  66;  1699,  p,  76),  Teller, 
and  NWSchroeder,  and  is  adopted  by  most  modern  commentators.^  The 
etymological  arguments  by  which  this  explanation  is  supported  may  be  seen  in 
Ges.  Thes.  p.  1471  f.  (Roed.) ;  they  are,  as  Stud,  justly  remarks,  far-fetched 
and  very  dubious.  We  should  perhaps  rather  compare  nsK'N  (also  MH.), 
nsa^  2  K.  4^8  Ez.  24^,  and  Ar.  ,^>^,  &c.  (Schultens);  the  stones  on  which 
the  pot  is  supported  over  the  fire,  fireplace.**  —  om;;  n''p-}tJ']  cf  Is.  5^6  7I8 
Zech,  108  (11  pp);   the  verb  is  not  used  in  the  O.T.  or  MH.  of  playing  on  a 


*  JDMich.,  Supplementa,  p,  2013  (irrigation  ditches)  ;   Schnur. 

t  Cf.  IL  dlvlso  contra  se  Ruben.  Of  divided  mind,  perfidy,  Ra. ;  aloof  on  the 
other  side  of  Jordan,  Ki. ;  &c. 

X  The  contrast  between  great  resolves  at  first  and  great  vacillation  afterwards 
(Schnur.,  Stud.,  Ew,,  Be.)  does  not  lie  in  the  words,  and  if  intended  must  have 
been  in  some  way  indicated,  §  So  Stud. 

11  So  Ra.,  Ba, ;  Reuben  tried  to  be  neutral  in  the  struggle. 

H  Canales  unde  pecora  bibunt  {cl.  Arab,  safita ;  JDMich.,  Schnur,)  is  phoneti- 
cally impossible.         **  Cf,  Lette,  and  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  Semites,  p,  357. 


158  JUDGES 

pipe,  — 3*7  npn]  jS  is  obj.  gen.  (cf.  Jer.  1710  Prov.  25^  &c.),  and  the  phrase 
can  hardly  mean  self-questionings,  hesitating  between  pro  and  contra*  Jew- 
ish interpreters  understand  the  words  of  the  questionings  which  the  absence 
of  Reuben  causes  among  the  other  Israelites.  — 17.  m^jx  -nj)>  noV  pi]  niJ 
c.  c.  ace.  Is.  33^*  Ps.  5^  120^;  not,  why  does  he  fear  the  ships  (Schm., 
JDMich.;  recently,  Niebuhr).  Bu.  {Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  16  n.)  conj.  vnNj; 
cf.  Cooke.  —  D>D>  ninV]  the  plur.  Gen.  491^  Dt.  33!^  (of  Zebulun)  &c.  —  vxisd] 

only  here;  the  suff.  prob.  refers  to  fy\n.  Cf.  Arab.  X-Oyi,  place  where  boats 
or  ships  are  drawn  up,  or  where  they  lie  to  unload.  The  translation  bays^ 
harbours,  is  scarcely  warranted. 

19-22.  The  battle ;  rout  of  the  Canaanites.  —  The  kings  came, 
they  foitght~\  obsen^e  the  effect  of  the  asyndeton.  —  The  kings  of 
Canaan']  united  against  Israel  under  the  lead  of  Sisera.  —  At 
Taanach,  on  the  waters  of  Megiddo~\  on  Taanach  and  Megiddo 
see  on  i^''  (p.  44  ff.).t  The  waters  of  Megiddo  are  the  Kishon 
and  its  branches  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  city.  The  field  of 
battle  was  therefore  on  the  southern  side  of  the  Great  Plain,  not, 
as  in  ch.  4,  at  the  foot  of  Mt.  Tabor  at  the  head  of  its  northern 
arm.  Taanach  is  separated  from  Tabor  by  the  greatest  breadth 
of  the  plain,  about  fifteen  miles.  —  They  made  no  gain  of  mo7iey~\ 
it  was  a  most  unprofitable  campaign  for  them  ;  a  sarcastic  meiosis. 
The  gains  of  war  were  in  the  ancient  world  one  of  the  principal 
causes  of  war;  cf.  Ex.  15^  —  20.  From  heaven  fought  the  stars] 
this  division  X  preserves  the  rhythmical  balance  of  the  distich, 
which  is  needlessly  destroyed  by  the  massoretic  punctuation. 
The  words  are  a  poetical  description  of  the  intervention  of  Yah- 
weh  to  discomfit  the  enemy  and  give  victory  to  Israel ;  the 
powers  of  heaven  themselves  were  arrayed  against  Sisera  §  and 
the  victory  was  not  won  by  the  prowess  of  Israel  alone.  ||  It  is 
not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  poet  represented  the  stars  as 
animated  beings,  the  host  of  Yahweh,^  which  in  some  unseen  way 

•  Schultens,  Animadvers.,  p.  100,  notes  that  in  Arabic  other  verbs  of  inquiring, 
investigating,  are  tropically  used  of  altercation. 

t  On  Megiddo  see  also  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geography,  p.  386  ff.,  and  Conder, 
Crit.  Review  of  Theol.  and  Phil.  Lit.,  iv.  1894,  p.  290  f.  The  attempt  to  find  the 
name  Megiddo  in  Nahr  Muqatta'  (Smith)  ought  to  be  given  up  once  for  all. 

X  Procop.,  Cler.,  Trendelenburg,  Kohl^.,  Herd.,  Mei.,  Bi.,  Briggs,  A.  MuUer,  al. 

\  Procop.,  Ew.,  Be.,  Ba.,  al.  ||  RLbG. 

H  Hollm. ;  cf.  Ges.,  Jesaia,  ii.  p.  329. 


V.  19-21  T59 

gave  aid  to  Israel ;  *  or  that  the  figurative  language  is  to  be  inter- 
preted of  a  furious  storm  which  threw  the  Canaanites  into  con- 
fusion.f  See  on  v.^^  —  From  their  paths  they  fought  with  Sisera\ 
lit.  highways  ;  their  established  and  \inchanging  track  through  the 
sky.  The  preposition  is  not  to  be  explained,  leavifig  their  paths,  \ 
to  descend  and  take  part  in  the  battle,  but  maiientes  in  ordine  et 
cursu  suo  adversus  Sisaram  pugnaverunt  (H)  ;  we  should  avoid 
the  ambiguity  by  translating,  i7i  their  paths.  —  21.  The  stream  of 
Kishon  swept  them  a7uay'\  not  merely  the  bodies  of  the  slain,  § 
but  the  living.  The  Kishon  is  not  in  this  part  of  its  course 
a  permanent  stream,  much  less  at  ordinary  times  a  dangerous 
torrent.  ||  The  battle  must  have  been  fought  in  the  winter  or 
spring,  more  probably  the  latter ;  and  it  is  possible  that  a  heavy 
spring  shower  suddenly  swelled  the  stream,  though  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  infer  this  from  either  v.^  or  v.^^^  —  The  next  words  are 
obscure ;  one  of  the  Greek  translations  **  and  the  Targum  inter- 
pret, stream  of  the  ancients,  stream  where  great  deeds  were  done 
in  ancient  times; ft  but  even  if  this  presented  no  formal  diffi- 
culties, it  is  a  strange  title  to  give  to  the  river ;  ancient  mountains 
(Dt.  ^:^^^)  is  not  parallel.  Another  interpretation,  suggested  by 
Abulwalid  is,  stream  of  encounters,  |  j  where  the  two  armies  met; 
or  stream  of  champions.  §§  The  former  lacks  analogy  in  Hebrew  ; 
the  latter  is  a  distinctively  Arabic  turn  of  the  word.  —  The  next  line 


*  Stud.  Many  older  commentators  thought  that  the  angels  were  meant ;  so 
Ephrem,  Schm.,  Cler.,  al.  mu. 

t  Fl.  Jos.,  anti.  v.  5,  4  §  205  f.,  gives  a  highly  embellished  description  of  this 
storm;  see  also  Schnur.,  Hollm.,  Ke,,  Reuss,  Cf.  the  Midrash,  Pesachim,  n8b. 
Cass,  thinks  of  a  night  attack.  %  Ew.,  Be.,  al.  §  H. 

II  On  the  Kishon,  and  the  hydrography  of  the  Great  Plain  in  general,  see  Rob., 
BR^.  ii.  p.  363  if. ;  S  WP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  265-267  ;  ii.  p.  39.  See  also  Shaw,  Travels, 
1757,  p.  274  f. ;  and  Ba.,  ad  loc. 

%  It  is  said  that  in  the  battle  of  Mt.  Tabor,  Apr.  16,  1799,  a  number  of  Arabs 
were  drowned  in  the  stream  coming  from  DebiirTyeh,  which  then  inundated  a  part 
of  the  plain  (Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  339).  Napoleon  himself  speaks  only  of  the 
drowning  of  great  numbers  in  the  Jordan,  which  the  rains  had  swollen  making  the 
ford  dangerous  (Bertrand,  Campagncs  d'Egypte  et  de  Syrie,  ii,  p.  88). 

**  ©BGN,  Xhe  other  recensions  of  <5,  with  US',  take  the  word  as  a  proper  noun ; 
so  Cler. 

ft  Or,  ancient  stream,  Ba. ;  cf.  RLbG.,  Abarb. 

XX  Trem.-Jun.,  Piscat.,  Lette  (alt.),  Schnur.,  Kohl.,  Hollm.,  Briggs,  al. 

\\  Brave  stream,  Ew. ;  der  alte  Siegesbach,  Reuss. 


l6o  JUDGES 

is  quite  unintelligible ;  concidca  anima  mea  robiistos,  *  or,  concul- 
cabit  fortite?',  is  simple  bathos,  and,  aside  from  that,  most  inappro- 
priate as  the  conclusion  of  v.^-  ^^,  which  tell  how  heaven  and  earth 
conspired  to  destroy  Sisera.  Probably  what  originally  stood  here 
formed  the  end  (predicate)  of  the  second  stichos  of  v.^^,  the 
repetition  of  the  words  stream  of  Kishon  being  a  gloss  to  the 
subject.f  The  line  would  in  that  case  correspond  in  sense  to 
the  preceding.  —  22.  The  verse  describes,  not  the  charge  of  the 
Canaanite  chariot  corps,  but  its  precipitate  flight.  We  hear  in 
the  Hebrew  words  the  wild  rush  of  the  frantic  steeds.  —  The^i 
the  horses'  hoofs  pounded'^  sc.  the  earth  ;  %  but  see  critical  note.  — 
With  the  gallop  gallopifig  of  his  steeds']  cf.  the  description  of  the 
charge  in  Nah.  3^^- :  "  The  swish  of  the  whip,  and  the  thunder  of 
wheels,  horses  galloping,  chariots  bounding,  horsemen  mounting, 
a  flash  of  swords,  a  gleam  of  lances,"  &c. 

19.  ^iDo  j's:3]  many  interpreters  render,  a  piece,  bit,  of  silver  (Tanch., 
Schnur.,  Kohl.,  Hollm.,  Ew.,  Be.,  Reuss,  al.);  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
prefer  this  supposed  etymological  explanation  to  the  sense  which  alone  is 
supported  by  Hebrew  usage.  —  20.  icn^j  didc>  ]o]  the  erroneous  division  of 
the  lines  in  fH  has  led  some  commentators  to  construe  i?;n'?j  impersonally 
(Lth.,  Schnur.),  or  to  supply  d^hSn  as  subject  (Schm.).  —  DmSoDD]  on  the 
form  of  the  suff.  see  Bo.  §  887;  cf.  Is.  59"^.  —  n-id^d  □;?]  dj?  dhSj  i  S.  13^  1733 
I  K.  1221  and  freq.  —  21.  Donj]  p|"ij  MH.  'shovel,  scoop,  scrape'  up,  or  out 
(Levy,  NHWb.  i.  p.  364) ;  in  S  equivalent  of  Heb.  ^^v  {e.g.  Is.  8^) ;  cf. 
Arab,  garafa,  used  of  a  torrent;  gurufox  gurf,  a  bluff  scooped  out  and  under- 
mined by  a  torrent;  guraf,  a  torrent  that  sweeps  everything  away,  &c.  (Lette, 
Hollm.).  —  Dioni"?  Snj]  (J^bgn  -^eifiappovs  apy^alwv,  those  who  were  in  old 
times,  predecessors.  §  Some  modern  scholars  regard  it  as  an  abstract  noun 
denoting  '  antiquity,'  connected  with  onp  as  Dni;;j  with  -\v  j,  3"'jipT  with  pf, 
D-'i^iSv  with  ::h';,  &c,  (see  Dietrich,  Abhandl.  zur  hebr.  Gram.,^.  35  f.;  Barth, 
Nominalbildimg,  p.  85) ;   so  Ba.     If  we  were  to  go  to  the  Arabic  dictionary 

for  the  word,  it  would  be  the  simplest  thing  to  connect  it  with  (•^tVi*  {TA. 
ix.  p.  19  end),  one  who  is  always  in  the  front  of  the  fray,  a  bold,  daring  man; 
comparing  for  the  form,  Lagarde,  Bildung  der  N'omina,  p.  59  f.  The  words 
ptr-'p  Snj  at  the  end  of  the  line  are  omitted  by  Bi,  as  "  repetitio  prorsus  inu- 
tilis."  —  •'3mr]  cannot  legitimately  be  turned  into  a  past  tense  (Ki.,  RLbG., 

*  ILJT,  Ra.,  JDMich.,  Stud.,  Ba. 

t  An  alternative  hypothesis  is  that  a  line  has  been  lost ;  see  A.  Miiller. 

X  Schnur.,  Hollm.,  Reuss,  al. 

§  For  other  variations  see  my  edition  of  the  Hebrew  text. 


V.    21-23  l6l 

Schnur.,  Kohl.,  HoUm.,  al.);  it  is  now  generally  rendered  as  a  jussive 
(Stud.),  but  the  second  pers.  of  the  jussive  is  rare,  except  after  Sn,  and  no 
reason  is  apparent  why  the  imperative  should  not  have  been  used  here  as 
usual.  —  ly]  is  construed  by  many,  especially  older  scholars,  as  direct  object 
{rodurmetonymy  for  robustos);  by  others  as  accus.  of  manner  (Herd.,  Ew., 
Hitz.,  Be.,  Cass.,  Reuss,  al.).  In  accordance  with  the  suggestion  made  above 
(p.  i6o),  we  might  conjecture  something  like  rj?  ■'E'sj  "j-n  D^ionp  Snj  (trample 
under  foot,  cf.  Is.  63^) ;  but  we  can  have  no  confidence  in  any  such  restora- 
tion.—  22.  'Ji  loSn  tn]  the  vb.  v.2<5b  Is,  16^  Ps.  74*^  &c.,  'give  a  heavy  blow, 
pound.'  The  construction  generally  adopted  by  modern  interpreters  labours 
under  two  difficulties;  the  suppression  of  the  object  (the  earth),  and  the 
preposition  |D  in  the  next  line.  The  old  versions  all  took  the  verb  as  passive, 
or  at  least  neuter,  as  do  also  Ki.,  RLbG.,  Abulw.,  Tanch,,  Schm.,  Cler.;  and 
it  must  be  admitted  that  the  construction  is  much  simplified  by  the  rendering, 
then  the  heels  of  the  horses  were  battered  by  the  gallop  galloping  of  his  steeds. 
It  would  then  be  preferable  to  pronounce  -iDSn  (Pual).  —  moN  nnm  nnmn] 
the  repetition  probably  imitative  of  the  sound  of  galloping  hoofs,  as  well  as 
intensive  in  sense;  cf.  the  exx.  in  Ew.  §  313  «.  Observe  the  suspended  stat. 
constr.  in  the  first  word.  The  root  only  Nah.  3^  nrin  did;  not  in  MH. 
Etymological  connexion  with  in  (JDMich.,  Supplem.;  Ges.  Thes.,  al.)  is 
very  improbable;  more  likely  the  word  is  onomatopoetic.  — .  iiion]  his  steeds ; 
Jer.  8^^  47^  50I1.  The  suff.  refers  loosely  to  the  enemy.  Others  translate, 
under  the  zvild  driving  of  their  mighty  men  (HoUm.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Ba.,  Reuss, 
al.) ;  but  this  gives  a  less  perfect  parallelism  and  assumes  that  im  could  be 
used  not  only  of  the  horse,  as  in  Nah.,  but  of  the  charioteer.  The  only  reason 
for  this  somewhat  forced  interpretation  vanishes  if  we  make  inSn  passive. 

23-31.  Death  of  Sisera.  —  The  third  division  of  the  Ode  con- 
sists of  two  parts ;  the  flight  and  death  of  Sisera  (v.^;-'') ,  and  the 
scene  in  his  palace,  where  his  mother  and  her  women  await  his 
return  (v.^^"^^).  —  23.  The  curse  is  obviously  a  foil  to  the  following 
blessing  (v.-^)  ;  the  conduct  of  the  people  of  Meroz  is  contrasted 
with  that  of  Jael.  From  this  fact,  as  well  as  from  the  position  of 
the  verse,  we  may  probably  infer  that  the  enemy  in  his  flight 
passed  this  Israelite  village,  whose  inhabitants,  instead  of  cutting 
him  off",  like  cowards  allowed  him  to  escape.*  —  Curse  Aferoz'] 
the  place  is  unknown,  and  we  have  no  clue  to  its  situation. 
Assuming  that  it  must  have  been  a  town  of  considerable  note, 
some  scholars  have  surmised  that  the  name  Meroz  is  miswritten, 
by  accident  or  design,  for  Merom  (Jos.  ii^),t  or  Meron  (Jos.  12-* 

*  Hollm.,  Stud.,  Ew.,  Don.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Ba..  Reuss,  MuUer.  al. 
t  Pagninus,  Cler.,  Fr.  Bo.,  Fiirst. 


I 62  JUDGES 

cf.  11^  0)*  or  Meroth  (Fl.  Jos.,  d.j.  ii.  20,  6)  ;  t  but  the  premise 
is  insecure,  and  the  places  suggested  are  all  too  far  from  the  field 
of  battle.  It  is  more  probable  that  Meroz  was  a  mere  hamlet 
which  lay  in  the  line  of  Sisera's  flight.  The  various  identifications 
that  have  been  proposed  by  modern  travellers  may  safely  be 
dismissed.  I  — T/ie  Messenger  of  Yahweh']  not  the  human  messen- 
ger who  bears  the  word  of  Yahweh,  his  prophet,  §  but  God  him- 
self as  he  reveals  himself  to  men,  cf.  on  2^  6^^ ;  we  should  think 
here  more  naturally  of  the  Yahweh  who  goes  before  his  people 
into  battle  (4^^*  cf.  5^^),  and  with  the  use  of  Messenger  compare 
Ex.  23^-^  and  Jos.  5^^'^^  ||  But  it  must  be  conceded  that  the 
phrase  has  here  some  difficulty.  —  Because  they  came  not  to  the 
help  of  Yahweh']  the  position  of  the  verse,  in  the  midst  of  the 
description  of  the  Canaanites'  wild  flight,  shows  that  the  words 
refer,  not  like  v.^^^'^^  to  their  failure  to  join  the  rising  of  the  tribes, 
but  to  their  failure  to  help  destroy  the  vanquished  foe ;  cf.  y-"* 
35-9. 15-17  _  j-^  ///^  help  of  Yahweh  as  brave  men]  cf.  v.^^  Ps.  55^^ 
&c.  Or,  amo7ig  the  brave  ;  ^  not,  against  the  valia?it  foe.  **  — 
24.  In  contrast  with  the  cowardice  or  perfidy  of  the  men  of 
Meroz,  the  fearless  devotion  of  Jael  appears  doubly  glorious.  — 
Blessed  above  women  shall  Jael  be]  the  Hebrew  superlative ;  the 
most  blessed  of  them  all.  —  Above  Bedawin  women  shall  she  be 
blessed]  lit.  wofnen  in  the  tent,  tenting  women;  cf.  8^^  Gen.  4^ 
Jer.  35^,  Arabic  ^ahlu-lwabar,  the  people  of  the  hair-cloth  tents, 
Bedawin. tt  The  words,  the  wife  of  Heber  the  Keftite,  are  a  gloss 
derived  from  4^^,  which  entirely  destroys  the  balance  of  the  verse.  J  J 

—  25.  The  poet  sets  us  before  the  door  of  Jael's  tent,  where 
Sisera  has  paused  a  moment  in  his  flight  to  beg  a  drink  of  water. 

—  Water  he  asked,  milk  she  gave]  the  pronouns  are  very  effec- 
tive ;  no  need  to  name  the  actors  in  this  tragedy.  —  In  a  bowl 
fit  for  lords  she  handed  him  sour  7?iilk]  a  large  milk  bowl ;  cf.  6^. 
The  milk  is  artificially  soured  by  being  shaken  for  a  few  moments 

*  Kruse,  Ew.,  Don.,  Vernes.  f  Justi,  Krochmal,  Boettger. 

X  See  Ba.,  p.  452. 

§  Deborah  (4*)  Kohl.,  Cass. ;  Barak  ST  (but  the  word  is  apparently  a  gloss),  Ra, 

II  Stud. ;  cf.  Ke.  f  So  most. 

♦*  Justi,  Stud.,  Cass.,  Niebuhr.  ft  Schnur.,  Stud.,  al. 

XX  Bi.,  A.  Muller,  Bu.,  Oettli.    Professed  metricians  like  Ley  may  find  it  suflScient 
to  call  the  unhappy  verse  a  "  decameter  (catalectic  ?)  "  I 


V.  23-26  163 

in  the  skin  kept  for  the  purpose,  in  which  the  portion  adhering 
to  the  inner  surface  of  the  skin  from  former  occasions  serves  as 
the  ferment  to  sour  the  new  milk.  It  is  a  most  grateful  and 
refreshing  drink,  the  best  the  Bedawin  have  to  give.*  —  26.  As 
he  was  hastily  draining  the  bowl,  Jael  seized  some  heavy  object 
that  lay  close  at  hand  and  felled  him  to  the  earth  with  a  blow.  — 
She  reaches  her  hand  to  the  piti]  the  word  ordinarily  means  a 
pin  or  peg,  frequently,  as  in  4-^  a  tent  pin ;  or  an  implement 
shaped  like  a  peg  (Dt.  23^^  Jud.  16^^).— The  words  in  the  next 
line  which  name  or  describe  the  weapon  are  very  obscure.  They 
are  generally  translated,  workme?i's  hammer,\  comparing  4-^ ;  but 
it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  the  Hebrew  will  bear  this  sense, 
and  the  expression  is  certainly  a  strange  one.  The  following 
verbs  make  it  clear  that  it  was  a  heavy,  blunt  implement  which 
crushed  Sisera's  skull ;  a  mallet  or  hammer  would  be  entirely 
suitable  in  the  context,  but  no  light  is  thrown  on  the  difficult 
words.  It  is  a  question  of  more  importance,  whether  in  the  two 
lines  two  different  weapons  are  meant,  a  pin  and  a  mallet  (?), 
as  in  4'^;  or  whether,  as  in  the  poetical  parallelism  is  intrinsi- 
cally not  less  probable,  one  weapon  under  two  names  or  descrip- 
tive epithets.  In  answering  this  question  we  cannot  be  governed 
by  the  prose  story  (4-^),  which  is  later  than  the  Ode,  and  may 
have  followed  a  different  tradition  or  even  have  originated  in  a 
misunderstanding  of  5-*^''.  %  The  verbs  in  v.-*^''  speak  of  pounding, 
smashing,  rather  than  piercing  ;  and  vr^  seems  to  be  decisive.  It 
describes  the  collapse  of  a  man  who,  standing,  receives  a  mortal 
blow  on  the  head ;  not  the  writhing  death  agony  of  one  who  is 
pinned  to  the  ground  ;  see  comm.  there.  Wellhausen  thinks  that 
the  pin  is  the  handle  of  the  mallet ;  A.  Miiller  and  others  doubt 
this.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  precise  nature  of  the  implement 
renders  it  doubtful  what  is  meant  by  the  pin ;  but  the  main  point 
is  not  affected  by  this  doubt.  Jael  used  one  weapon,  not  two.  §  — 
And  strikes  Sisera  a  bloWy  destroys  his  head~\  puts  it  out  of  exist- 
ence.    The  second  verb  not  elsewhere  in  O.T.  —  Smashes  and 


*  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  p.  263,  cf.  ii.  304;  so  Schnur.,  al.     The  opinion 
that  the  milk  was  intoxicating,  see  above,  p.  125. 

t  Ki. ;  smiths'  hammer,  Ew.,  al.  after  IL ;  see  crit.  note. 

X  See  above,  p.  no.  \  See  against  this  view,  Be.  and  Reuss. 


1 64  JUDGES 

demolishes  his  temple']  lit.  makes  it  vanish.  The  two  lines  are 
symmetrical ;  the  first  verb  in  each  describes  the  act,  the  second 
the  result.  In  view  of  this  symmetry  we  might  be  tempted  to 
conjecture  that  the  name  Sisera  is  a  later  addition;  she  smote^ 
destroyed  his  head,  &c.  —  27.  At  her  very  feet  he  sank  down, 
fell,  lay  still]  observe  the  effect  of  the  asyndeton  in  the  swift 
succession  of  verbs.  The  interpreters  who,  in  harmony  with  4^^ 
assume  that  Sisera  was  lying  asleep,  are  compelled  to  do  great 
violence  to  these  words.  Bachmann  candidly  says  that  in  accord- 
ance with  the  usage  of  the  three  verbs  elsewhere,  singly  or  in  con- 
junction, they  would  be  understood  as  they  are  translated  above, 
he  went  down  on  his  knees,  fell  prostrate,  and  lay  there  dead ;  * 
but  he  feels  constrained,  in  defiance  of  usage,  to  render  instead, 
he  writhed,  fell  {i.e.  died),  lay  there  dead.f  Others,  to  explain  his 
fall,  imagine  that  Sisera  was  lying  on  a  raised  bed  !  |  —  The  words, 
at  her  very  feet  he  sank  down,  fell,  are  accidentally  repeated.  §  — 
On  the  spot  where  he  sank  down,  there  he  fell,  killed]  lit.  a  victim 
of  violence. 

23.  rnn  mx]  the  2  pi.  is  addressed  to  the  people.  For  Meroz  ©amo  ai. 
Mafw/);  otherwise  the  tradition  of  the  name  is  constant.  —  nnx  nx]  the  inf. 
abs.  gives  a  strong  emphasis,  curse  with  all  your  might,  nix  means,  not 
'  revile,  utter  curses,'  but  *  blast  with  an  efficacious  curse.'  Many  have  inferred 
that  the  indignant  Israehtes  destroyed  the  town  (Be.,  Cass.,  Reuss;  cf.  ^). — 
Dni3J2  nin>  nnrj;'?]  it  is  perhaps  better  to  pronounce  ani3Ji3,  in  the  character, 
quality,  of  heroes;  cf.  ii^^  Ges.^^  p.  366.  —  24.  DityjD  "i^bn]  opp.  of  -\-in 
Gen.  12*  &c.,  is  also  not  a  benevolent  wish,  but  an  effective  invocation.  The 
imperf.  is  stronger  than  the  usual  ptcp.  n^ni.  As  the  verb  with  its  pers.  subj. 
is  necessarily  definite,  p  has  not  merely  comparative  force  (more  blessed  than 
other  women),  but  superlative  (the  most  blessed).  —  25.  annx  SflD^]  Sqd 
6''^^  not  infrequent  in  MH.,  a  bowl  or  basin,  here  probably  of  wood.  |1  Beside 
MH.,  the  word  xScD  is  found  in  Palestinian  Aramaic,  both  Jewish  (JE)^^- 
Nu.  \^)  and  Christian  {Evang.  Ilierosol.^  John  i^^  =  vlttttjp);  in  Assyr. 
saplu  (Schrader,  KAT"^.  p.  20818).  On  Arab,  sifl  see  Fleischer,  A'/^m(?r^ 
Schriften,  ii.  p.  556  f.;  Frankel,  Aram.  Lehnworier  im  Arab.,  p.  67.  M. 
Vernes,  ^^  cephel,  coupe,  appartient  au  chaldeen  et  au  syriaque,"  makes  the 
reader  rub  his  eyes,  onnx  (v.^^  Nah.  3^^  Jer.  14*  &c.),  'mighty  men.'  With 
the  notion  of  extraordinary  strength  that  of  extraordinary  stature  is  naturally 


•  See  also  Stud.  f  Similarly  many  others  ;  see  crit.  note. 

X  Hollm.,  Rosenm.,  al. ;  against  this  very  absurd  theory  see  Stud. 

§  Reuss,  A.  Miiller,  Bu.        ||  See  Burckhardt,  Bedouins  and  Wahdbys,  i.  p.  46. 


V.  26-27  1 65 

connected,  as  e.g.  in  the  case  of  Saul;   and  as  a  bowl  for  giants  would  be  of 
corresponding  proportions,  we  should  probably  be   not  far  from  the  mind 
of  the  author  if  we  rendered,  in  a  huge  bowl ;  cf.  Sn  n-in,  Vn  niN,  &c.     The 
genitive  is,  however,  not  a  mere  circumscription  of  the  adjective.  —  DNcn] 
parallel  to  ^Vn  Dt.  321^  Is.  72a.     it  is  not  butter  (versions  and  many),  nor 
cream  (Stud.,  Ba.,  Be.,  Cass.,  al.  mu.),  neither  of  which  is  in  accordance  with 
the  usage  of  the  word  or  the  habits  of  Bedawin,  but  soured  milk,  the  meat 
and  drink  of  the  nomads  (Schnur.).     See  Burckhardt,  Bedouins  and  Wahd- 
bys,  i.  p.  239  f.;  Doxxghty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  p.  263,  325,  382.  —  26.   nn^S  m> 
njnSari]  m>  is  parallel  to  nj>D>,  as  in  Is.  4812  Ps.  21^  2610  &c.  (Ba.,  We.);   not 
in  distinction  from  it,  her  left  hand  ^©2L,  J.  Kimchi,  RLbG.,  Cler.,  Kohl., 
Hollm.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Oettli,  al.  mu.).    njn^ii'n  is  pointed  as  3  pi.  fem.*     How  the 
punctuators  construed  this  it  is  difficult  to  imagine;    fortunately  it  is  also 
unnecessary.     Most  recent  grammarians  pronounce  as  3  s.  f.  with  suff.  njnSari 
(De  Dieu,  Cler.,  Schnur.,  Be.,  01.,  Sta.,  Ges.25,  K6.,  Bi.,  al.),  taking  r\^>\s  a 
casus  pendens  ;  her  hand — to  the  pin  she  reaches  it.     The  versions  show  no 
trace  of  this  ending  or  suff.  —  D"'';'!?^  mnSriS]  the  ancient  translators  found  these 
words  perplexing :  (SAMO  g  (cf.^)  exhibit  eh  dTroro/iaj  KaraKdircju,  apparently 
meaning,  "  for  the  decapitation  of  exhausted  men  ";  cf.  VL  pDjvSi  i"';;itt'n  -^nninV; 
(gPV  al.  (-0  al.  as  doublet)  I  tou  els  reXos  (d^dS^S)  axpeiQ(rai.     The  commonly 
received  translation  is  that  of  Aquila,  els  acpOpav  Kowubprcop  {(B^^^),  IL  ad 
fabrortim  7?ialleos,  ^K  to  the  carpenter's  hammer ;  that  the  weapon  must  be 
a  hammer  or  mallet  seemed  certain  from  421  (n^ipon).     But  although  a  deriva- 
tive of  oSn  might,  for  all  we  know,  be  the  name  of  a  mallet,  the  form  niDSn 
does  not  tolerate  such  an  explanation.     The  afformative  ut  is,  to  say  the  least, 
very  rare  in  Old  Hebrew,  and  is  specifically  the  ending  of  secondary  abstract 
nounSjt  much  like  tas  in  Latin,  and  never  makes  nomina  instrumettti.     Prob- 
ably the  punctuation  intends  a  secondary  development  of  the  infinitive  after 
the  Aramaic  fashion,  as  ^OP^^i.  understand  it;  X  but  this  is  quite  impossible. 
We  do  not  gain  much  by  pronouncing  rnn"?.-!  (3L),  for,  assuming  that  noSn 
might  mean  *  mallet,'  how  many  hammers  are  we  to  suppose  that  Jael  used  on 
her  guest's  head?     Finally,  diSd;;  does  not  mean  artisans  (smiths,  carpenters), 
but  men  who  are  worn  out,  or  wear  themselves  out,  with  toil  and  hardships; 
'  hammer  of  hard-working  (or  weary)  men '  §  is  a  singular  metonymy  for  a 
heavy  hammer!  —  itt'Ni  npnn]  the  verb,  only  here  in  O.T.,  is  freq.  in  MH. 
in  the  sense,  *  scrape  off,  efface,  erase  ' ;   in  Arab,  mahaqa  is  *  destroy  utterly,' 
so  that  no  trace  of  the  thing  remains,  *  annihilate.'     Most  interpreters,  assum- 
ing that  the  word  must  be  synonymous  with  the  preceding  ncSn,  translate, 
sfuote,  shattered^  or  the  like,  frequently  supporting  the  rendering  by  hazardous 
etymologies;   but  the  context  does  not  require  us  to  depart  from  the  sense 

*  Other  explanations  may  be  found  in  the  older  grammars ;  cf.  Ges.  Lgb.,  p.  800; 
Bo.  \  929  5.     The  reading  of  ffl  is  defended  by  Hollm.,  Stud.,  Ba. 

t  See  Earth,  Nominalbildung,  p.  413  f.  +  So  Ra. ;  D-iSoy  means  Sisera. 

§  Cf.  Ki.,  RLbG.,  JDMich.,  Herd.,  Stud.,  Ke.,  al 


1 66  JUDGES 

which  MH.  and  Arab,  suggest  and  which  the  parallel  clause  confirms.  —  nxno 
mpn  noSni]  it  seems  preferable,  with  many  codd.,  to  omit  the  conjunction 
before  the  first  verb,  ym  '  smash,  shatter '  by  a  heavy  blow,  as  with  a  club  or 
mace,  Ps.  iio«  6822  (the  head)  Dt.  33^^  (loins)  Ps.  iS^s.  The  second  verb, 
ns^n,  is  usually  translated  fierced,  transfixed,  sc.  with  the  pin  (Versions,  Ra., 
Ki.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  Hollm.,  Ew.,  and  almost  all  recent  scholars).  Job  202*  is 
alleged  in  support  of  this  rendering;  but  the  cases  are  not  at  all  parallel.  The 
image  of  the  swift  arrow  pursuing  and  overtaking  the  fleeing  man  is  easily 
connected  with  the  ordinary  usage  of  r|Sn;  that  the  shaft  pierced  his  vitals  is 
implied  by  the  following  rather  than  said  in  inG^nn.  In  Jud.  5^6  there  is  no 
such  connexion ;  it  is  impossible  to  associate  making  a  hole  in  a  man's  head 
with  any  sense  in  which  we  know  the  verb  ^Sn  in  O.T.  or  the  cognate 
languages.  Here  again  the  meaning  transfix  has  been  invented,  to  suit  the 
situation  described  in  421.  If  52^  had  been  interpreted  for  itself,  no  one 
would  ever  have  thought  of  such  a  rendering.  I  take  ncSn  to  correspond  to 
npn:2  in  the  foregoing  line,  'cause  to  pass  away,  vanish';  cf.  the  intrans.  use 
Is.  2I8;  trans.  Is.  24^  (||  "(3j;,  ncn).— 27.  rsh^-s  jo]  the  preposition  need  not 
be  taken  Hterally;  *  it  is  more  emphatic  than  Vn  or  S;?.  Schnur.  and  others 
compare  the  Arab,  idiom,  20jo  ^^,  in  his  presence,  &c.;  but  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  expressions  are  really  parallel.  —  3Dty  Sdj  yiD]  the  first 
two  verbs  together  Ps.  20^  cf.  Is.  10*;  ;?-\d  and  asc  Nu.  24®.  y-io  is  prop. '  bend 
the  knees,'  kneel,  or  crouch,  squat  on  the  heels;  cf.  Jud.  f-^  i  S.  4!^  2  K.  i^^ 
&c. ;  said  of  a  mortally  wounded  man  whose  knees  fail  under  him  2  K.  92*. 
That  it  could  be  used  of  the  spasmodic  drawing  up  the  legs,  as  of  a  man  who 
while  lying  received  a  death  wound,!  is  not  inconceivable;  it  is  the  sequence 
Sdj  >nD  which  makes  this  impossible.  Vqj  is  indeed  not  infrequently  used  (esp. 
in  the  ptcp.)  of  one  who  is  prostrate  on  the  ground  (32^  1927  i  s.  318  &c.), 
but  only  of  one  who  has  fallen  (A.  Miiller) .  —  niT^]  a  victim  of  violence. 
The  vb.  of  persons  Jer.  5*^  Ps.  17^,  cf.  Pual  (of  nations)  Jer.  413  &c. 

28-30.  In  Sisera's  palace.  —  With  the  vision  of  the  king  lying 
dead  at  the  feet  of  his  slayer  still  before  our  eyes,  the  poet 
transports  us  to  Sisera's  palace,  where  the  queen-mother  is 
anxiously  watching  for  her  son's  return.  The  presentiment  of 
evil  which  she  herself  stifles;  the  sanguine  confidence  of  the 
ladies  of  her  court,  who  see  in  imagination  the  division  of  the 
booty,  an  Israelite  maiden  or  two  for  each  man,  and  abundance 


*  Stud.,  Reuss,  al.,  e.g.  imagine  that  she  held  his  head  between  her  knees  while 
she  drove  the  pin  into  his  temple ;  cf.  Donaldson.  The  Haggada  {Jebam.,  103*) 
gives  the  words  an  obscene  sense. 

t  Cler.,  Ba.,  al.  mu. ;  Schm.,  incurvavit  se,  quasi  se  de  terra  erccturus ;  sed 
erectus  aliquousque,  rursus  concidit  et  jacuit.     Similarly  Schnur.,  Cass.,  Oettli,  al. 


V.  28-29  167 

of  the  richly  dyed  and  embroidered  stuffs  which  they  themselves 
prize  so  highly  —  all  this  is  depicted  with  inimitable  skill.  Their 
light-hearted  anticipations  form  a  striking  contrast  to  the  ill-sup- 
pressed forebodings  of  the  mother's  heart,  and  the  whole  scene  pro- 
duces on  the  reader,  who  knows  the  ghastly  reality,  an  incomparable 
effect.  Lowth*  justly  says  that  there  is  nothing  in  literature  more 
perfect  in  its  kind  than  these  verses.  It  is  only  modern  senti- 
mentality that  can  discover  in  this  passage  the  note  of  a  woman's 
pity  for  the  mother  of  the  fallen  king.  It  is  the  pitilessness  of 
triumph;  we  need  not  say,  the  exultation  of  gratified  revenge.f 
—  28.  Through  the  window  she  peered"]  the  effect  of  the  tran- 
sition is  heightened  by  this  postponement  of  the  expUcit  subject 
to  the  second  clause;  the  reader  must  himself  feel  who  this 
anxious  woman  is  (cf.  v.^).  The  verb  rendered  peer  is  used  of 
one  who,  leaning  forward,  looks  down  on  something  below  him ; 
cf.  2  S.  6^^  Nu.  23^^  &c.  The  meaning  of  the  next  verb  (EV. 
cried)  %  is  doubtful ;  the  root  is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  O.T. 
In  Aramaic  it  means,  sound  the  trumpet,  raise  a  clamour,  in  war 
or  jubilee ;  in  one  instance  in  MH.  it  seems  to  be  used  of  the 
clamorous  cry  of  the  mourning  women ;  §  but  neither  of  these 
senses  is  appropriate  here,  ||  and  for  the  sake  of  the  parallelism, 
especially  in  these  interlocked  Hnes,  we  desiderate  a  synonym  of 
the  preceding  peer^  as  (^^^^-  ^T  render ;  see  crit.  note.  —  Th'ough 
the  iattice-wi?idow~\  the  translation  is  conventional ;  we  know  the 
word,  which  occurs  here  and  in  Prov.  7^,  only  as  a  synonym  for 
7vindow.  —  Why  does  his  chariot  corps  fail  to  co?ne  ?  Why  tarry 
the  hoof-beats  of  his  chariots  ?]  the  first  sign  of  the  return  of  the 
warriors  would  be  the  distant  sound  of  horses  feet;  cf.  v.^. — 
29.  The  sagest  of  her  princesses  answer]  there  is  a  fine  irony  in 
the  allusion  to  the  wisdom  of  these  ladies,  whose  prognostications 
were  so  wide  of  the  truth.  The  next  line  is  very  variously  inter- 
preted.    Many  recent   commentators   make   it  parenthetic,  but 


*  De  sacra  poesi  Hehraeorum,  p.  118-120 ;  cf,  also  Herder,  Briefe,  das  Studium 
der  Theologie  betreffend,  yter  Brief.  f  See  Herder. 

X  Cler.  {exclamavii) ,  HoUm.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Reuss,  al. ;  others  interpret  more  defi- 
nitely, ululavit  (IL),  heulet  (Lth.),  similarly  RLbG.,  Ew.,  al.  mu. 

\  If  the  text  be  sound;  see  crit.  note. 

II  In  the  first  it  is  taken  by  Schultens,  Lette,  al.  (joyous  anticipation  of  victory). 


l68  JUDGES 

she  {sc.  the  mother)  kept  repeat'mg  her  words  to  herself,*  con- 
stantly reverting  to  her  forebodmg  questionings.  I  prefer,  with 
older  scholars,  to  translate,  Yea,  she  herself  replies  to  herself;  j 
she  tries  to  silence  her  presentiment  by  the  same  kind  of  answer 
which  her  sage  companions  give  her.  —  30.  No  doubt  they  are 
fifidi7ig,  dividing  booty']  lit.  are  they  not;  the  tenses  depict  the 
scene.  Cf.  Is.  9^.  —  A  wench  or  a  couple  of  the??i  for  each  man] 
a  coarse  word  seems  to  be  intentionally  employed.  Women 
captives  were  the  slaves  of  the  captors;  cf.  Dt.  21^°"^^.  In  the 
remainder  of  the  verse  some  awkward  repetitions  mar  both  the 
rhythm  and  the  sense.  It  is  clear  only  that  richly  dyed  and 
embroidered  stuffs  are  meant,  in  the  distribution  of  which  the 
women  of  Sisera's  harem  had  a  keen  interest.  J  Reuss,  by  omit- 
ting the  intrusive  words,  restores  the  verses  :  §  Booty  of  dyed  stuffs 
for  Sisera  ;  A  piece  of  embroidered  work  or  two  for  the  neck  of 
the  booty.  ||  The  last  words  cannot  be  right ;  it  is  absurd  to 
imagine  that  the  victors  used  these  rich  stuffs  to  deck  out  for  the 
triumphal  procession  the  beasts  they  had  taken  ;^  and  if  the 
meaning  were  that  they  adorned  with  them  the  shoulders  of  their 
fair  captives,**  these  would  hardly  be  called  simply  the  booty,  nor 
would  this  word  be  used  in  one  line  for  the  dyed  stuffs  themselves, 
and  in  the  next  for  the  prisoners  who  are  arrayed  in  them. If  The 
parallehsm  would  lead  us  to  expect  here  a  designation  of  the 
person  or  persons  for  whom  these  costly  prizes  were  destined, 
corresponding  to  the  words,  for  Sisera,  in  the  first  half  of  the 
verse.  Ewald  very  ingeniously  conjectured,  for  the  neck  of  the 
queen,  \\  changing  but  one  letter  of  the  text.  Reuss,  supposing 
the  queen  mother  to  be  speaking,  emends, /^r  my  shoulders.  In 
the  general  disorder  of  the  text  in  this  verse,  it  is  impossible  to 

*  Lth.,  Kw.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Oettli. 

t  Ra.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  JDMich.,  Kohl.,  Stud.,  Cass.  Others,  she  replied  to  the 
one  of  the  ladies  who  spoke  (HoUm.)  ;  or  took  back  her  words  of  doubt  (Schnur., 
Justi). 

X  Lowth  quotes  Aen.  xi.  782,  Femineo  praedae  et  spoliorum  ardebat  amore. 

$  So  A.  Mliller.     Bickell  reconstructs  differently  ;  see  crit.  note, 

II  Reuss,  for  my  neck  ;  see  below. 

\  JHMich.,  Schnur.,  Rosenm.,  al. ;  cf.  i  S.  1519. 
*«  Schm.  (alt.),  Justi,  Rod.,  Ba.,  Cass.,  Ke. 

tt  Embroidered  ornaments  for  the  neck  of  the  dyed  garments ;  Schm.,  Cler. 
XX  Be.,  Oettli,  Renan,  Kautzsch. 


V.  29-31  169 

feel  much  confidence  in  any  restoration.  —  31.  With  consummate 
art  the  poet  breaks  off,  leaving  to  the  imagination  of  the  reader, 
who  knows  all,  the  terrible  revelation  of  the  truth.  —  So  shall 
perish  all  thine  eiie??iies,  Yahwe/i]  cf.  Ps.  6^'^-^  92^.  The  one 
word  so  brings  it  all  before  our  eyes  again ;  how  proudly  they 
marched  out  under  the  admiring  eyes  of  their  ladies ;  how  gaily 
they  rode  into  the  fray ;  the  repulse,  the  defeat,  the  panic ;  the 
wild  flight  —  sauve  qui  pent;  the  king's  death  by  a  woman's 
hand,  disgrace  worse  than  death ;  the  anguish  and  dismay  of  those 
who  loved  him.  So  perish  all  thine  enemies  !  —  But  his  friefids  * 
shall  be  as  when  the  sun  rises  in  his  mighty  splendid,  invincible; 
vanquishing,  annihilating  the  darkness  of  the  night,  the  mists  of 
dawn.  No  more  fitting  or  impressive  figure  could  be  conceived ; 
cf.  Ps.  19^*"-.  —  And  the  land  enjoyed  security  for  forty  years'^  the 
chronological  note  of  the  editor  of  the  book ;  cf.  3". 

28.  pSnn  nj;^]  Gen.  26^  Jos.  2>^  i  S.  1912  Joel  2^.  —  :32"'m]  3J^  is  in  all  the 
Targums  the  usual  equivalent  of  Heb.  T'\t\^  the  noun  N^a""  of  n;;nn;  f  but  in 
the  places  where  '^>-sr\  means  *  cry  out  in  terror  or  anguish'  (Is.  15*  Mi.  4^)  it  is 
not  rendered  by  a^"",  nor  is  such  a  sense  demonstrable  in  Syriac.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  is  unsafe  to  base  an  interpretation  on  Jerus.  Jebamoth,  xv.  5 
(fol.  \^^;  ed.  Sitomir  fol.  78*)  cnDn  pj  in:i3"'0  njjipnn  '?ip;  Tos.  Jebam.y 
xiv.  7  (ed.  Zuckerm.  p.  25913),  reads  iniDTD.  (Q^^  S  (sub  aster.)  %  have  here 
Karefiavdavev  (elsewhere  used  for  verbs  of  seeing,  gazing),  K  NpnD  §  'looked 
attentively';  which  might  lead  to  the  conjecture  that  they  read  i03m.  More 
probably  they  were  guided  only  by  the  context,  Menahem  and  Ra.  seek  an 
etymological  connexion  with  n33  'pupil  of  the  eye.'  The  tense  of  22'>r\i 
conforms  to  the  regular  sequence  of  tenses  in  prose;  but  has  no  parallel  in 
the  Ode  (cf.  Ex.  15),  and  makes  a  most  prosaic  impression.  |1 — jjcn]  we 
know  the  word  only  as  a  synonym  of  pSn.  The  rendering  lattice  comes  from 
^ALMO  ai.  e  I  g  5t^  ^^5  diKTViOTTJs.  The  etymology  which  has  done  duty  since 
Lette  (Roed.  in  Ges.  T^es.,  MV.,  al.),  connecting  the  word  with  Arab. 
lianiba  '  it  (the  day)  was  cool,'  is  phonetically  impossible.^  Other  interpreters 
think  of  a  narrow  window,  loop-hole  in  the  wall;  so  (gSGN  ^^Tbs  toO  to^lkov. 

♦  %S>  thy  friends. 

t  Not  quite  as  constantly  in  the  prophets  proper  as  in  other  books. 

\  This  reading  has  been  displaced  in  many  other  codd.  by  a  doublet.    ©BGN  vac. 

§  So  edd.  Venet.i-2  and  codd.  Br.  Mus. ;  Np^no  (Buxt.,  al.)  is  mispointed.  Ki. 
cites  Np>iiNi  as  the  reading  of  5C ;  the  sense  would  be  the  same. 

II  Cf.  Dr3.  ^  132  n. 

H  It  is  almost  a  pity  these,  etymologists  did  not  think  of  the  modern  Arabic 
meaning  of  sanab,  '  moustaches.' 


170  JUDGES 

—  rc3  P"id]  >'nD  is  stronger  than  n::':',  'why  in  the  world',  tt-iio  cf.  Ex.  32^, 
disappoint  the  expectation  of  his  coming,  fail  to  come  (cf.  note  on  3-^) ;  here 
parallel  to  -ins  'put  off,  delay'.  —  '^'^n^']  on  the  form  of  the  Pi.  see  Ges.^^  p.  170 
n.  3 ;  K6.  i.  p.  397.  —  rni:3DiD  "'D>'i3]  Bi.  makes  the  prosaic  observation,  currus 
non  facit  gressus,  and  cancels  ^?3>'D !  —  29.  rin;;T\  n^niic  niDDn]  *  with  the 
superlative  cf.  Dt.  z^^^  Is.  19II  &c.,  Ges.25  §  133,  3  n.  i.  The  verb  is  pro- 
nounced as  3  s.  f.  with  suff,  3.  s.  f.  But  this  discord  of  number  is  intolerable; 
we  should  pronounce  nrjyn  3  pi.  f.,  and  suppose  that  the  object  pronoun  was 
omitted,  being  easily  supplied  from  n*^  in  the  next  line.  An  alternative  would 
be  to  pronounce  the  noun  moDn,t /"//^  wisdom  of  her  princesses  answers  her. 
The  abstract  noun  may  be  followed  by  the  singular  verb  as  in  Prov.  9I,  and 
we  should  be  able  to  retain  the  suff.  in  r\iy;r\.  On  the  whole,  however,  the 
former  construction  is  probably  the  safer  one  here.  —  nS  nnoN  2^vr\  N>n  «]«] 
C'->DN  3'';:*n  'answer',  like  -i3"\  3>'^'n;  cf.  Prov.  22^1  rinVc*'?  onDN  3>a'nS.  The 
suffix  is  unusual,  but  not  against  the  logic  of  speech;  %  on  the  contrary,  it 
seems  altogether  suitable  to  the  emphasis  on  the  reflexiveness  of  the  action; 
she  returns  her  answer  to  herself.  It  is  unnecessary,  with  Bi.,  to  substitute  for 
the  last  pronoun  n!;'3jS.  This  is  the  only  interpretation  of  the  words  that 
preserves  the  parallelism,  which  is  rudely  disturbed  by  making  them  a  par- 
enthetic circumstantial  clause;  and  it  is  also  much  more  like  the  poet  to 
make  the  anxious  mother  catch  at  the  straw  of  hope  that  shall  so  cruelly 
disappoint,  rather  than  with  too  true  foresight  reject  the  reasonable  answer 
of  her  ladies.  —  30.  in:; O"'  nSh]  the  question  carries  the  affirmation  into  the 
mind  of  the  hearer;  cf.  4^-^*  &c.  Note  the  force  of  the  tense,  they  are  ever 
finding  fresh  booty.  —  D''P?Dnn  oni  cf.  15^6  Is.  176  Am.  i^ff-  and  similar  colloca- 
tions of  consecutive  numbers  to  indicate  that  th'e  numeral  is  to  be  taken 
loosely.  Here  it  gives  the  effect  of  a  certain  lordly  disregard,  a  wench ~or 
two,  what  matter,  more  or  less?  onn,  only  here  in  Heb.,  is  used  by  Mesha  of 
Moab  (I.  1 7)  in  recounting  the  captives  he  had  taken  from  Israel.  §  It  is 
probable  that  this  is  a  tropical  use  of  the  word  Dnn  '  womb ' ;  cf.  the  con- 
temptuous cmmus  for  woman  in  Latin.  ||  —  naj  tt'N-^S]  per  capita.  In  this 
sense  rhhi  is  common  in  later  Heb.  (P  and  Chr.);  idj  (Mesha  I.  16)  is 
rare  in  old  Heb.  prose  except  in  the  distributive  phrase  anqjS  (Jos.  71*- 1"-  ^^ 
I  S.  io2i  6);  cf.  Ex.  lo"  1237  (?)  Dt.  22^  &c.  — d^v^x  SSr]  booty  of  dyes, 
for  dyed  stuffs;  cf.  MH.  D'-Jiy^x  nj3  Jer.  Kethub.,  vii.  7  (fol.  31^,  ed.  Sitomir 
fol.  41*).     Bi.  omits  D^DX  SSir  n"\D>dS;  Reuss  and  Miiller  om.  d-i^ox  SSk'  and 


*  Norzi  prefers  nj^jyn  as  the  reading  of  oJd  and  correct  codd. ;  so  ed.  Venet. 
1547  al.  The  Massora  {Ochla  we-Ochla,  No.  369)  treats  it  as  a  plnr. ;  cf.  Dikduke 
§  55 ;  K6.  i.  p.  547,  559  f.  As  sg.  it  is  rendered  by  iLuna  sapientior  ceteris  uxori- 
bus;  cf.  Ki.,  each  one. 

t  The  same  change  is  rightly  made  by  Hitz.,  De.,  al.  in  Prov.  14I,  cf,  9I. 

JBa. 

\  Of  the  versions  only  IL  has  come  near  the  true  sense ;  the  words  are  rightly 
interpreted  by  Ra.,  Ki.,  Lth.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  al.  *      ||  Hon,  Sat.  i.  3,107. 


V.  28-31  I/I 

y3x  two  words  further  on.  —  nDpn]  Ez.  i6^^  Ps.  45^^  &c.;  embroidery,  in  which 
patterns  were  worked  with  a  needle  in  various  colours.*  The  name,  which 
apparently  signifies  *  variegated,'  may  also  include  stuffs  woven  in  patterns  of 
different  colours,  f  How  such  things  were  prized  is  to  be  seen  from  2  S.  i^, 
where  also  spoils  of  war  are  perhaps  meant.  The  dual  a\'^Dpn  does  not  mean 
'  embroidered  on  both  sides,'  but  '  a  couple  of  pieces  of  embroidery,'  precisely 
as  in  cncni  above.  —  SS::' nsi^jS]  Ew.  conj.  '?jc',  gueen  (Ps.  45^0  jsje}^^  2^). 
The  pi.  nsix  is  not  conclusive  against  this  (A.  Miiller)  ;  cf.  Gen.  27^^  4629  451* 
&c.  \V.  Green  suggested  h^t'  nsisS,  for  the  neck  of  him  that  takes  the  spoil, 
sc.  Sisera;  cf.  S,  RLbG.,  Buxt.,  Tremell.,  Hollm.,  al.  Teller,  Don.,  conj. 
nNisS ;  Reuss,  Briggs,  al.  h^Z'  "rnNisS,  for  my  neck,  as  a  spoil;  E.  Meier  msixS 
SStt'  (De  Sacy  nsisS),  cf.  ©ABai..  '^  ad  ornanda  colla.  Bu.  reconstructs 
nNisS  DTiDpn  nripi  SStr  niD"'D^  □"•yns  j?2iJ  SSiy.  —  31.  E.  Meier  regarded  this 
verse  as  a  later  addition  to  the  Ode,  on  account  of  its  contents  and  because 
it  has  no  place  in  the  system  of  strophes,  i.e.  of  Meier's  strophes.  Winter 
also  {ZATW.  ix.  1889,  p.  223  ff.)  strongly  doubts  its  genuineness.  To  him 
the  idea  expressed  in  vanx  is  a  stumbling  block.  —  Observe  the  paronomasia 
in  "I"'3"'1N  and  iohn. 

Translation  of  the  Ode.  \ 

2.  While         ....         in  Israel, 
While  the  people  offer  freely,  bless  ye  Yahweh. 

3.  Hear,  ye  kings;   give  ear,  ye  rulers : 
I,  to  Yahweh  I  will  sing. 

Will  hymn  to  Yahweh,  Israel's  God. 

4.  Yahweh,  when  thou  wentest  forth  from  Seir, 
Marchedst  from  the  region  of  Edom, 

The  earth  quaked,  the  heavens  swayed  ( ?  ) ; 
The  clouds  dripped  water, 

5.  The  mountains  streamed  before  Yahweh, 
Before  Yahweh,  the  God  of  Israel. 

6.  In  the  days  of  Shamgar  ben  Anath,  caravans  ceased, 
And  wayfarers  travelled  by  roundabout  paths. 

7.  Hamlets  (?)  ceased  in  Israel, 

ceased, 
Till  thou  didst  arise,  Deborah, 
Till  thou  didst  arise,  a  matron  in  Israel. 

*  Joma,  72b,  sub  fin.;  Ki.  Comm.;  Schroeder,  de  vestitu  mulierum,  p.  221  f.; 
Braun,  de  vestitu  sacerdotum,  ed,  za.,  p.  301  ff. 

t  Ki.  Lex.  s.v.  Many  scholars  think  that  woven  stuffs  are  exclusively  meant ; 
see  Hartmann,  Hebrderin,  i.  p.  401  ff. ;  iii.  p.  138  ff. 

X  This  translation  is  ancillary  to  the  preceding  interpretation,  and  is  as  literal  as 
possible.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  produce  a  literary  version  of  the  poem, 
or  to  imitate  its  rhythm. 


172 


JUDGES 


lO. 


Shield  was  not  to  be  seen,  nor  spear, 

Among  forty  thousand  in  Israel. 

My  heart  turns  to  the  marshals  (?)  in  Israel, 

Those  who  freely  offer  among  the  people,  bless  ye  Yahweh. 


Then  marched  down  to  the  gates  the  people  of  Yahweh. 

12.    Rouse  thee,  rouse  thee,  Deborah,  strike  up  the  song;    • 
Up,  Barak,  and  take  thy  captives,  son  of  Abinoam. 

13 '         '         • 

The  people  of  Yahweh  marched  down  for  him  as  heroes. 

14.  .         .         Ephraim 

Benjamin 
From  Machir  marched  down  truncheon-bearers, 
And  from  Zebulun  those  who  lead  with  the  muster-master's  staff. 

15.  And  .         .         .         Issachar  with  Deborah; 
And  ....         Barak 


Among  the  divisions  of  Reuben  were  great  discussions. 

16.  Why  didst  thou  sit  still  among  the  dung-heaps. 
Listening  to  the  calling  of  the  flocks? 

17.  Gilead  remained  beyond  the  Jordan; 

And  Dan,  why  does  he  seek  the  protection  of  the  ships? 
Asher  sat  still  on  the  shore  of  the  Great  Sea, 
And  remained  by  its  landing-places. 

18.  Zebulun  is  a  tribe  that  recklessly  exposed  itself  to  death, 
And  Naphtali,  on  the  heights  of  the  open  field. 

19.  The  kings  came,  they  fought; 
Then  fought  the  kings  of  Canaan, 

At  Taanach,  by  the  waters  of  Megiddo; 
Gain  of  silver  they  did  not  make ! 

20.  From  heaven  fought  the  stars, 

From  their  paths  they  fought  with  Sisera. 

21.  The  stream  of  Kishon  swept  them  away, 
*   The  stream  of         .         .         . 

22.  Then  were  battered  the  heels  of  the  horses, 
From  the  gallop  galloping  of  his  steeds. 

23.  Curse  ye  Meroz,  saith  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh, 
Curse  ye  bitterly  its  inhabitants, 


VI.-VIIT,  173 

Because  they  came  not  to  the  help  of  Yahweh, 
To  the  help  of  Yahweh,  like  brave  men. 

24.  Blessed  above  all  women  shall  Jael  be, 
Above  all  nomad  women  shall  she  be  blessed. 

25.  Water  he  asked,  milk  she  gave; 

In  a  bowl  for  lords  she  brought  him  sour  milk. 

26.  Her  hand  to  the  pin  she  reaches, 
And  her  right  hand  to  the 

And  hammers,  destroys  his  head, 
Smashes  and  demolishes  his  temple. 

27.  At  her  very  feet  he  sank  down,  fell  at  full  length,  lay  still; 
On  the  spot  where  he  sank  down,  there  he  fell,  killed. 

28.  Through  the  window  peered 

The  mother  of  Sisera  through  the  lattice  : 
Why  does  his  chariotry  fail  to  come? 
Why  tarry  the  footfalls  of  his  chariots? 

29.  The  sagest  of  her  princesses  reply, 
Yea,  she  answers  her  own  question : 

30.  No  doubt  they  are  finding,  dividing  booty; 
A  wench  or  two  for  each  man, 

Booty  of  dyed  stuffs  for  Sisera, 

A  piece  of  embroidery  or  two  for  the  neck  of    . 

31.  So  shall  perish  all  thine  enemies,  Yahweh ! 

But  his  friends  shall  be  as  when  the  sun  rises  in  his  power. 

Vl.-Vni.   Gideon  delivers  Israel  from  the  Midianites.  —  The 

IsraeHtes  again  offend  Yahweh,  who  allows  the  Midianites  to  harry 
them  for  seven  years.  At  every  harvest  time  the  Bedawin  hordes 
come  down  upon  them  and  strip  the  land  bare  (6^'^).  The  cause 
of  this  punishment  is  explained  by  a  prophet  (v.^'^^').  The 
Messenger  of  Yahweh  appears  to  Gideon  and  summons  him  to 
free  Israel  from  the  incursions  of  Midian  (v.""''').  At  the  bidding 
of  Yahweh,  Gideon  destroys  the  altar  of  the  Baal  of  the  place 
and  cuts  down  and  burns  the  sacred  post  {asherah)  ;  he  is  saved 
from  the  vengeance  of  his  towns-folk  by  the  shrewd  speech  of  his 
father  (v.^-^^) .  The  Midianites  again  invade  the  land,  and  encamp 
in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel.  Gideon  raises  his  clansmen  of  Abiezer, 
also  the  rest  of  Manasseh,  Asher,  Zebulun,  and  Naphtali ;  he  is 
assured  by  a  miracle  that  Yahweh  will  save  Israel  by  his  hand 
(v.^-'^).  At  the  command  of  Yahweh  his  force  is  reduced  to  ten 
thousand,  and  then,  by  a  singular  test,  to  three  hundred  men 


174  JUDGES 

(7^"^).  Encouraged  by  an  ominous  dream  which  he  heard  a 
Midianite  telUng  to  his  tent-mate  (v.^"^^),  he  furnishes  his  three 
hundred  men  with  torches,  earthen  jars,  and  horns,  and  surrounds 
and  alarms  the  camp  of  Midian,  which  breaks  up  in  wild  flight 
(v.^^'^^).  While  he  follows  them  up,  the  Ephraimites  head  them 
off  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  slay  the  two  chiefs  (v.^'^). 
Having  appeased  the  jealousy  of  the  Ephraimites  (8^'^),  he  pur- 
sues the  Midianites  across  the  Jordan.  The  people  of  Succoth 
and  Penuel  refuse  him  food  and  are  threatened  with  dire  ven- 
geance (v."*-^).  He  surprises  the  foe  where  they  thought  them- 
selves secure  and  captures  the  two  kings  (v.^*^'^).  Returning  in 
triumph,  he  visits  exemplary  punishment  on  Succoth  and  Penuel 
^^13-17^ ,  and  puts  to  death  his  prisoners  to  avenge  his  slain  kinsmen 
^Y- 18-21^ .  He  refuses  the  kingdom  which  his  grateful  countrymen 
offer  him  (v.^^-),  but  takes  the  golden  ornaments  they  have 
stripped  from  the  slain  and  from  their  camels  to  make  an  idol 
(ep/iot/) ,  which  he  sets  up  at  Ophrah  (v.-^-^'').  The  Midianites 
are  quelled  and  dare  not  lift  their  heads  again ;  the  land  is  secure 
for  forty  years  (v.^).  The  story  closes  with  a  brief  notice  of 
Gideon's  family  (v.^'^^)  and  of  the  relapse  of  Israel  after  his 
death  (v.^^^),  which  forms  the  connexion  with  the  story  of 
Abimelech,  ch.  9. 

Studer  (1835)  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  8^^-  is  not  the 
sequel  of  the  foregoing  narrative.  In  7^-  the  Midianites  are 
intercepted  in  their  flight  by  the  Ephraimites,  and  the  two 
chiefs,  Oreb  and  Zeeb,  killed.  When  Gideon,  who  is  in  pursuit 
of  them,  comes  up,  the  Ephraimites  inveigh  violently  against  him 
because  they  were  not  summoned  at  the  beginning,  and  are  only 
appeased  by  his  flattering  comparison  of  their  achievement  with 
his  own :  Is  not  the  gleaning  of  Ephraim  better  than  the  vintage 
of  Abiezer?  God  has  given  into  your  hands  the  two  chiefs  of 
Midian  ;  what  have  I  been  able  to  do  to  compare  with  you?  -The 
quarrel  itself,  and  especially  Gideon's  reply,  show  that  the  pursuit 
was  over  ;  vintage  and  gleaning  were  both  complete.  In  8'*"^\  on 
the  contrary,  we  find  Gideon  and  his  three  hundred  men  following 
the  retreating  marauders  across  the  Jordan,  with  such  uncertain 
prospect  of  success  that  the  townsmen  of  Succoth  and  Penuel 
scofifingly  refuse  to  furnish  the  food  he  needs  for  his  hungry  men. 


VI.-VIII. 


175 


He  pushes  on,  surprises  the  camp  of  the  Bedawin,  and  makes  pris- 
oners the  two  kings  of  Midian,  Zebah  and  Zalmunna.  Nothing  can 
be  clearer  than  that  8*'^^  is  not  from  the  same  source  as  8^-^  with 
its  premises  in  the  preceding  narrative.  Closer  examination  shows 
that  ch.  6,  7  are  not  of  one  piece  throughout ;  6^^-,  e.g.,  is  not  the 
continuation  of  6^^"-'* ;  the  second  sign,  6"^^-'*'',  is  strange  after  the 
miracle  6'^ ;  compare  also  6^  with  6^  f-^,  and  on  the  other  hand 
6^  with  7^^  8^.*  The  question  thus  arises  whether  those  parts  of 
ch.  6^-8^  which  obviously  do  not  belong  to  the  principal  narrative 
are  additions  made  to  the  old  story  by  the  author  of  the  Book 
of  Judges  or  later  editors ;  f  or  whether  two  stories  have  been 
united  by  a  redactor,  j  In  the  latter  case  we  have  further  to 
inquire  whether  the  antecedents  of  8*"-^  are  to  be  found  in  either 
of  these  sources,  or  whether  we  have  to  recognize  in  8^^-  the  end 
of  a  third  story,  whose  beginning  has  been  entirely  supplanted.  § 
Finally,  it  is  to  be  asked  whether  any  one,  or  all,  of  the  sources 
of  these  chapters  can  be  identified  with  the  old  books  of  Israelite 
history  which  are  used  in  the  composition  of  the  Hexateuch.  || 
These  questions  are  as  yet  far  from  a  definitive  solution ;  the 
attempt  which  is  made  below  can  claim  only  the  character  and 
value  of  a  critical  experiment. 

On  the  critical  problems  of  ch.  6-8,  see  Studer,  p.  212-215;  Wellhausen, 
Comp.,  p.  223-228;  Prol^.,  p.  250  ff.;  Bertheau,  p.  xxii.  f.,  129  ff.;  Stade, 
GVI.  i.  p.  181-192;  Bohme,  ZATW.  v.  p.  251  fF.;  Kuenen,  HCO^.  i.  p.  343  f., 
346  ff.;  Budde,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  107-125;  Cornill,  Einl'^.,  p.  95  f. ;  Kittel, 
Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  55-60;  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  71-74;  Winckler,  Altorienta- 
lische  Forschungen,  p.  42  ff.  —  In  regard  to  the  main  narrative  in  6^-8^,  the 
differences  among  the  critics  named  above  are  not  very  great.  Wellhausen 
leaves  to  it  6^-2i-  \  33f.  yi.  9-25  gi-3^  ^nd  the  original  account  of  the  making  of  the 
ephod  in  8"^-.  Stade  defines  it  somewhat  more  precisely,  assigning  to  it  the 
basis  of  Rd's  introduction  in  6I-6, 6ii-22a.  33f.  7I.  9-25  gi-s.**  Kitt. :  62-6a.  11-24. 33f.  36-40 
yi.  9-11. 13-25  gi-s.  24-27a||  fhc  remainder  of  the  chapters  consists,  according  to 
all  these  critics,  of  additions  by  different  hands  and  of  different  dates;   8^--^  is 


*  See  We.,  Comp.,  p.  223-226;  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  181  ff. 

t  We.,  Sta.,  Kue.,  Kitt. 

+  Be.,  Bu.,  Co.  §  So  all  the  critics  cited.  ||  Bohme,  Bu.,  Co. 

^  Of  course  excepting  the  traces  of  the  editor's  hand  in  the  introduction. 
**  722  is  not  all  from  one  hand ;  v.25b  a  harmonistic  addition, 
ft  Except  the  last  words  of  6^   (the  Amalekites  and  Bene  Qedem)  ;  7i6-5!2  has 
been  retouched. 


176  JUDGES 

from  a  second  source,  from  which  ch.  9  also  is  derived.*     Bu.,  whose  analysis 
is  adopted  by  Cornill,  finds  in  ch.  6^-8^  two  sources  united  by  a  redactor;  viz., 

T    62b-Ga.  11-24  j.    yl.  9-11.  13.*  14.*  15-22.*  23-25    gl-S.  29  .    £    e^-lO-  25-32.  36-40.       To    the    first 

editor  (Rje)  he  ascribes  extensive  additions  in  6^-6,  interpolations  in  6^^-^, 
5:55  y2-8. 12^  the  introduction  of  the  horns  in  71^-22^  perhaps  the  latter  part  of  8^'; 
to  Rd  the  characteristic  phrases  in  6^-  2a  g^s,  perhaps  the  end  of  S^^.  Ch.  8'*-2i 
is  the  end  of  an  independent  story,  which  is  not,  however,  an  irreconcilably 
divergent  account  of  the  events  narrated  in  61-8^,  but  relates  to  an  entirely 
different  occurrence.  Bu.  rightly  declares  against  the  exaggerated  contrast 
drawn  by  previous  critics  between  8'*-2i  and  6^-8^,  which  makes  the  latter 
historically  worthless.  X  It  is  assumed  by  all  these  critics,  beginning  with 
Wellhausen,  that  the  antecedents  of  the  story  8'*-2i  cannot  be  found  in  61-8^. 
The  postulates  of  the  former  are,  it  is  said,  of  a  wholly  different  kind.  Instead 
of  following  a  divine  call  to  deliver  Israel,  Gideon  has,  like  Barak  (5^2)^  a 
personal  wrong  to  avenge;  the  Midianites  in  a  foray  have  killed  his  brothers 
^8i8f.)_  To  avenge  their  blood  he  raises  his  kinsmen  of  Abiezer,  pursues  the 
Bedawin  across  the  Jordan,  overtakes  and  surprises  them  on  the  border  of  the 
desert,  and  makes  them  pay  the  penalty.  The  motive,  the  actors,  the  scene 
of  the  action,  are  different.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  resemblances  between 
the  two  stories  are  not  less  striking;  the  Abiezrites  (6^^),  the  three  hundred 
men  (7^),  the  two  chiefs  or  kings  of  Midian  whose  names  sound  so  suspi- 
ciously alike,  are  the  real  actors  in  both.  The  pursuit  across  the  Jordan  and 
surprise  in  their  own  desert  does  not  exclude  a  previous  night  alarm  and  flight 
like  that  narrated  in  7i5ff-.  §  That  Gideon  had  a  wrong  of  his  own  to  avenge, 
is  not  incompatible  with  the  representation  that  he  was  called  of  God  to 
deliver  Israel  from  the  scourge;  the  sharp  severing  of  natural  and  religious 
motives  is  more  in  the  manner  of  the  modern  critic  than  of  the  ancient  story- 
teller. On  the  other  hand,  especially  if  6i-8^  are  regarded  as  composite 
(Bu.,  Co.),  it  is  very  inconvenient  to  have  84-21  igfj-  over;  such  a  remainder 
may  not  unfairly  be  deemed  a  failure  of  the  solution.  The  attempt  may 
therefore  be  made  to  discover  the  beginnings  of  the  narrative  8*-2i  in  the 
preceding  chapters.  1|  They  are,  of  course,  not  to  be  found  in  that  strand  of 
the  story  which  ends  with  72^-8^,  with  which  829  appears  to  connect  imme- 
diately. The  account  of  the  night  attack  on  the  camp  of  Midian,  715-22^  jg 
composite;  the  horns  are  not  introduced  by  the  redactor  (from  Jericho;  Bu.), 
but  belong  to  a  different  version  of  the  story .^  In  one  account  the  panic  is 
caused  by  the  shattering  of  earthen  jars,  the  sudden  flashing  out  of  hundreds 
of  torches,  the  war-cry.  For  Yahweh  and  Gideon !     The  Midianites  flee  in 


*  On  the  latter  point  Kitt.  expresses  himself  guardedly ;  cf.  also  Kue. 

t  After  the  removal  of  some  editorial  interpolations ;  see  below. 

t  Cf.  also  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  73  n.  §  Cf.  85 ;  Kue. 

II  Compare  Winckler,  who  regards  61-83  as  composite  (JE)  ;  84-22  as  a  homo- 
geneous extract  from  J  added  by  a  later  hand.  As  in  3I2-30  (Ehud),  I  am  unable 
to  follow  his  analysis,  If  Be. ;  see  below  on  /K*. 


vi.  I  177 

wild  disorder  (v.^i).  In  the  other  the  camp  is  alarmed  by  horns  on  every 
side  sounding  the  attack;  the  Midianites,  in  the  darkness  thinking  that  the 
Israelites  are  upon  them,  lay  wildly  about  them  and  kill  one  another  (v.-22).* 
The  antecedents  of  these  two  accounts  are  easily  discoverable  in  f-'^^;  f-^ 
belongs  to  the  trumpet  version  of  the  story;  Gideon's  reconnoissance,  f-^\  to 
the  other.  In  ch.  6,  Budde's  analysis  may  in  the  main  be  followed.  Accord- 
ingly we  have:  J,  part  of  the  older  material  incorporated  in  62-6,  611-24-34 
^1.9-11.13-15^1  the  version  of  the  stratagem  in  v.16-20  in  which  the  jars  and 
torches  appear,  v.21,  part  of  v.22b  describing  the  direction  of  the  flight,  8^-21, 
v24-27a  substantially,  v.^of- :  for  E,  62-6  in  part,  67-10-25  32.33,  [the  call  of 
Gideon  to  deliver  Israel],  v.36-40,  v.35a  (Manasseh),  72-8,  that  version  of  v.16-20 
in  which  the  horns  play  the  chief  part,  v.22a.22b  (in  part),  v.23(?)  24f.  8I-3.29. 
In  ascribing  this  part  of  the  story  to  E,  I  do  not  affirm  that  it  is  all  by  one 
hand;  6^-10,  e.g.,  seems  to  be  one  of  those  secondary  pieces  which  we  so  often 
find  in  E  contexts,  both  in  the  Hexateuch  and  the  Books  of  Samuel.  The 
editorial  additions  in  ch.  6-8  (9)  are  not  very  extensive  or  important. 

1-6.  The  Israelites  offend  Yahweh ;  he  allows  the  Midian- 
ites to  overrun  and  plunder  them  for  seven  years.  — In  this 
introduction  the  famiUar  phrases  of  D  appear  in  v.^^^;  his  hand 
is  also  probably  to  be  recognized  in  certain  notes  of  exaggeration 
in  Y?-\  The  substance  of  v.^-^-^  must  be  derived  from  the  old 
story  which  runs  through  the  following  chapters.  The  verses  are, 
however,  much  overloaded,  and  it  is  probable  that  more  than  one 
source  has  been  put  under  contribution. 

1  Introductory  formulas  of  the  editor  ;  see  on  i"^-  '\  —  MidiarCl 
the  most  important  of  a  group  of  tribes  in  N.W.  Arabia  which  the 
Israelite  historians  reckoned  to  their  own  race  (Abraham),  though 
not  of  the  full  blood  (the  concubine  Keturah,  Gen.  25^-^  J),  and  a 
step  farther  removed  than  the  Ishmaelites.  The  land  of  Midian, 
ie  the  district  occupied  by  the  settled  part  of  the  tribe,  was  m 
the  northern  Higaz,  east  of  the  Gulf  of  'Aqabah,  where  a  town 
of  the  name  lay.  The  nomad  branches  of  the  tribe  wandered 
northward  along  the  margin  of  the  desert,  making  forays  mto 
the  pastures  and  cultivated  tracts  of  Edom,  Moab,  %  and  Gilead, 
and  even  pouring  across  the  Jordan  into  Western  Palestme.§  — 

*  See  also  Winckler,  p.  50  f.  +  r^f  r<.r,  ofi35 

t  Disregarding  minor  traces  of  the  editor  s  hand.  t  Cf.  Gen  36    • 

;  On  the  wanderings  or  migrations  of  modern  Arab  tnbes  to  the  nor  h    s  e 

Doughty.  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  271  f • ;  especially  the  wide  range  of  the   Anez>.  .3. 

p.  33off.  .  .  > 

N 


178  JUDGES 

Seven  years\  on  the  chronology  see  Introduction  §  7.  —  2.  The 
power  of  Midian  prevailed  over  Israel'^  3^^  cf,  f- ;  words  of  the 
editor  who  transforms  the  annual  forays  of  the  Bedawin  into  a 
subjugation  and  seven  years'  oppression.*  To  the  same  hand 
belongs  v.^**,  and,  in  part  at  least,  the  ampHfication  of  v.-"^  —  For 
safety  from  Midian  they  ??iade  the  .  .  .  which  are  in  the  hills,  and 
the  caves y  a?id  the  fastnesses']  cf.  i.  Sam.  13^.  The  word  which  is 
omitted  in  the  translation  must  in  the  context  mean  a  place  of 
concealment  or  security;  its  precise  signification  is  unknown. 
The  meaning  ravines,  gorges,  ascribed  to  it  in  the  lexicons  rests 
solely  on  an  absurd  etymology.  The  author  thus  accounts  for  the 
abandoned  hill-forts  and  rock  dwellings  scattered  over  the  land, 
which  perhaps  were  really  the  work  of  a  more  primitive  popula- 
tion. Many  remains  of  this  sort  are  still  found  east  of  the  Jordan. 
—  3-5.  The  yearly  inroads  of  the  Bedawin  robbed  the  Israelitish 
peasants  of  the  fruit  of  their  toil  and  greatly  impoverished  them.f 
The  verses  are  not  a  unit,  as  appears  not  only  from  the  awk- 
ward surplusage,  but  from  the  false  sequence  of  tenses.  This 
redundancy  is  not  altogether  due  to  editorial  ampHfication ;  both 
the  sources  from  which  the  following  chapters  are  derived  must 
have  had  such  an  introduction,  and  probably  both  have  been 
drawn  upon  here.  —  3.  The  disorder  of  the  text  is  sufficiently 
shown  by  a  literal  translation  :  Whenever  Israel  had  sown,  Midian 
used  to  come  up,  and  Amalek  and  the  Bene  Qedem,  and  (they) 
used  to  come  up  against  it  (Israel).  4.  And  they  encamped 
against  them  (Israel)  and  destroyed,  &c.  The  confusion  of  tenses, 
which  in  English  is  only  awkward,  is  in  Hebrew  ungrammatical. 
The  Amalekites  are  Bedawin  whom  we  generally  meet  in  the 
deserts  south  of  Palestine ;  the  Bene  Qedem,  as  their  name 
imports,  come  from  the  east,  the  great  Syrian  desert.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  names  here  is  very  likely  an  exaggeration  of  the 
editor ;  cf.  on  3^^.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  the  exaggeration 
already  existed  in  E ;  cf.  v."^  f^.  Of  the  rest,  we  may  surmise 
that  the  frequentative  tenses  come  from  one  source  (?E),  the 
narrative  aorists  from  the  other.     Following  this  clue  it  is  possible 

*  See  Introduction  §  6,  and  above  on  3I2-30  (p.  go). 

t  Similar  incursions  of  tribes  east  of  the  Delta  into  Egypt,  Burckhardt,  Syria, 
p.  558  i. 


VI.  2-6 


79 


to  construct  out  of  the  verses  two  tolerably  complete  parallel 
accounts ;  but  the  combination  can  be  made  in  more  than  one 
way,  and  we  cannot  feel  any  confidence  that  our  analysis  thus 
recovers  the  sources.  Cf.  also  7'-.  —  As  far  as  the  vicinity  of 
Gaza']  in  the  extreme  south-west.  —  And  they  would  not  leave 

any  thing  to  live  on  in  Israel]  frequentative  tenses,  as  in  v.''''. 

And  sheep  and  ox  and  ass]  Jos.  6^^  i  S.  22^^;  sc.  they  would  not 

leave.     The  words  may  be  a  gloss  to  the  preceding  subsistence. 

5.  The  dupHcation  of  clauses  and  confusion  of  tenses  continues. 
—  Locusts  afford  an  effective  figure  for  the  swarming,  hungry 
hordes  of  invaders ;  Quid  enim  locustis  innumerabilius  et  fortius, 
quibus  humana  industria  resistere  non  potest.*  —  6.  Israel  was 
greatly  reduced  by  reason  of  Midiaji]  cf.  2  S.  3^  —  The  second 
half  of  the  verse  is  editorial ;  cf.  on  3^.  Observe  Bene  Israel  (as 
in  v.^)  in  contrast  to.  Israel  v.*. 

1.  The  name  Midian  appears  in  the  towns  Moblava  or  MoSoOm,  Ptol, 
vi.  7,  2,  and  MaStd^ua  (further  inland)  vi.  7,  27;  cf.  Euseb.,  OS^.  27652. f 
According  to  the  Arab  geographers,  it  lay  five  days  south  of  Ailah  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Red  Sea.  |  In  the  Hexateuch,  E  brings  Moses  before 
the  Exodus  into  intimate  relations  with  Jethro,  the  priest  of  Midian  (Ex.  2^^^- 
iS^ff).  The  Mountain  of  God  (Horeb)  §  was  in  the  land  of  Midian  (Ex.  3I) ; 
thither  Moses  led  the  people  from  Egypt.  Though  it  is  not  expressly  stated, 
the  narrative  of  E  hardly  leaves  room  for  doubt  that  the  Midianites  wor- 
shipped Yahweh  at  Horeb  before  Moses ;  and  the  name  nin-,  till  then 
unknown  to  the  Israelites  and  having  no  natural  etymology  in  their  lan- 
guage, is  perhaps  of  Midianite  origin.  Close  relations  between  Israel  and 
Midian  are  also  indicated  by  the  recurrence  of  Midianite  clan  names  in  Judah, 
Reuben,  and  East  Manasseh.  1|  The  Midianites  appear  as  caravan  traders 
(Gen.  3728. 3G  is_  5o6);  nomads  dwelling  in  tents  (Hab.  3").  The  latest 
stratum  of  the  narrative  of  the  Exodus  (p)  brings  Israel  into  conflict  with 
the    Midianites   in   the   plains  of  Moab  shortly  before  the   crossing  of  the 


*  Jerome,  on  Joel  i^. 

t  See  also  i  K.  iiis. 

X  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  p.  497  f.  On  modern  Midian,  see 
Burton,  Gold  Mines  of  Midian,  1878  ;  Land  of  Midian,  1879. 

^  In  P  Sinai.  According  to  Yaqiit,  Tur  Sina  is  the  name,  'in  the  language  of 
the  Nabataeans,'  of  a  mountain  near  Madyan,  which  is  an  extension  of  the  range 
above  Ailah.    See  Le  Strange,  I.e.  p.  73. 

II  Noldeke,  BL.  iv.  p.  218.  Epha,  Gen.  25*,  is  in  i  Chr.  2*6  a  concubine  of 
Caleb ;  247  a  son  of  Jahdai  (in  Judaean  clan  list)  ;  Epher.  i  Chr.  4!!'  (Judah)  ^^ 
(East  Manasseh)  ;  Hanoch,  Gen.  46^  (Reuben). 


I80  JUDGES 

Jordan  (Nu.  25^-1^  31  Jos,  IS^^)-  Nu.  25^-^^  is  a  substitute  for  the  fragment- 
ary story  of  the  offence  at  Baal  Peor,  Nu.  25I-5  (JE) ;  and,  with  its  sequel 
ch.  31,  has  no  historical  worth;  the  introduction  of  the  sheikhs  of  Midian  in 
Nu.  22^- ''^  is  probably  harmonistic.  To  judge  from  the  echoes  in  the  later 
literature,  the  defeat  of  the  Midianites  narrated  in  Jud.  ch.  6-8  must  have 
been  most  disastrous.  "The  day  of  Midian"  is  for  Isaiah  (9^,  cf.  lo'^S;  also 
Ps.  Ss^^-  ^-)  synonymous  with  a  signal  and  irretrievable  catastrophe.  It  has 
often  been  surmised,  though  without  any  very  good  grounds,  that  the  defeat 
inflicted  upon  them  by  Hadad  of  Edom  (Gen.  36^5)  fell  about  the  same  time. 
After  the  time  of  the  Judges  the  Midianites  scarcely  reappear  in  the  his- 
tory. See  further,  Noldeke,  BL.  iv.  p.  217  f.;  Die  Amalekiter,  u.  s.  w.,  1864, 
p.  7  ff .  —  2.  piD  ^jdd]  best  taken  literally,  from  before^  as  with  verbs  meaning 
'withdraw,  flee,  conceal,'  and  the  like;  cf.  v.^i^  921  ij3  &c.  — nnnjc]  O^^n 
rpvfjiaXids,  gPVLOM  q  g  /xdvdpas,  Orig.  se^ia,  pens,  kraals,  ef.  i  S.  136.  The 
etymological  explanation  of  Jewish  comm.,  subterranean  chambers  or  caves 
with  a  small  opening  for  light  ("inj),*  is  not  more  improbable  than  that 
adopted  from  Schultens  (Job,  p.  49)  f  by  Ges.  and  many  modern  scholars, 
which  connects  it  with  Arab,  manhar  (on  which  see  Lane,  p.  2858<=) ;  see  Stud. 
RLbG.,  *  beacons,'  perhaps  towers  for  fire  signals  from  hill-top  to  hill-top,  to 
give  warning  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy;  cf.  Abulw.  —  nn;?Dn  nNi]  Bu. 
suspects  that  the  words  are  a  gloss  to  the  preceding.  —  nnsDn]  i  S.  t.'^'^-  ^^  24^, 
with  nnj?D  Ez.  33^";  cf.  the  fortress  MacrdSa  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  xiv.  ii,  7  §  296;  b.j. 
vii.  8,  3  ff.  On  Amalek  see  Noldeke,  Die  Amalekiter,  1864;  Bertheau,  BL. 
s.  v.  The  historical  notices  of  Amalek  all  locate  them  in  steppes  or  desert 
south  of  Palestine;  see  i  S.  15  (Saul)  i  S.  30  (David),  cf.  also  Nu.  1443-45. 
In  the  traditions  of  the  Exodus,  Israel  was  attacked  by  the  Amalekites  before 
reaching  the  sacred  mountain,  probably  in  traversing  the  deserts  north  of  the 
Sinaitic  peninsula  (Ex.  178^-  E) ;  cf.  Dt.  25I7-19  i  S.  152.  The  relentless  wars 
waged  upon  them  by  Saul  and  David  seem  to  have  broken  them  up;  they  are 
scarcely  mentioned  in  the  later  history.  The  oracle  of  Balaam  (Nu.  24^0) 
foresees  their  complete  disappearance.  A  fragmentary  notice  in  i  Chr.  ^'^• 
tells  us  that  a  band  of  Simeonites  exterminated  the  last  remnant  of  the  race  in 
their  refuge  in  Mt.  Seir. — The  Bene  Qedem  (Easterns)  are  mentioned  in 
Jer.  49^8  (in  conjunction  with  the  Kedarenes),  and  Ez.  254- ^o,  where  they  are 
evidently  inhabitants  of  the  deserts  east  of  Ammon  and  Moab;  cf.  also  Is.  1 1^*. 
—  4.  omSj?  ijnii]  the  impf,  cons,  after  the  frequentatives  is  not  in  itself  without 
analogy  (negligent  lapse  into  simple  narration;  cf.  12^^-,  and  see  Dr^.  §  114; 
TBS.  p.  24),  but  the  vibration  between  the  two  constructions  in  this  and  the 
following  verses  is  hardly  to  be  so  explained,  —  n^PD]  subsistence,  17I'"'  (MH.); 
cf.  victus  from  vivere.  —  S131]  Dt.  3222  n^  Lev.  264- 2<i  Ez.  34^7. — 5.  Dn>SnNi 
iNa"']  Qere  in2i  conforming  to  the  preceding  iS>'\  (gALMO  J  g  9  wapicpepov 
=  iN3\  — nnnVS]  Piel  Gen.  1310  1913.29  &c.;  cf.  Hiph.  v.*. 

♦  Ra.,  Ki.,  Abarb. ;  cf.  Wetzstein,  Hauran,  p.  46. 
t  Cf.  Schm. 


VI.  7-8  l8l 

7-10.  Yahweh  sends  a  prophet  to  upbraid  the  Israelites  for 
their  defection.  —  When  the  Israelites  in  their  distress  cry  to 
Yahweh,  he  sends  a  prophet,  who  calls  to  mind  the  great  deeds  of 
their  god  in  saving  them  from  Egypt  and  giving  them  the  land 
of  Canaan,  and  recites  the  fundamental  law,  which  here,  as  in 
Ex.  20^-,  has  its  ground  in  the  great  deliverance  God  has  wrought : 
You  shall  not  adopt  the  religions  of  Canaan.  This  prohibition 
they  have  disregarded.     Cf.  2^^-^'^  lo"-^^  i  S.  f-  lo'^"^^  12^-25^ 

The  speech  breaks  off  abruptly  with  this  introduction.  We 
miss  in  the  words  of  the  prophet  the  positive  accusation  and  the 
denunciation  of  Yahweh's  anger,  and  in  the  narrative,  the  result 
of  his  reproof,  which  not  only  the  whole  drift  and  purpose  of  the 
speech,  but  the  analogy  of  similar  discourses  in  Judges  and 
Samuel,  leads  us  to  expect;  cf.  2^"^  and  especially  lo"'^^.  It  is  not 
likely  that  the  author,  left  the  speech  thus  without  the  point  which 
is  its  reason  for  being ;  more  probably  the  conclusion  was  dropped 
by  the  compiler  who  subjoined  v."^-  from  the  parallel  narrative. 
The  incompleteness  of  the  speech,  as  well  as  the  evidence  of 
langu^e  and  style,  which  in  this  case  is  unusually  decisive,  shows 
that  yJ'^^  are  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  compiler,*  but  to  an 
Elohistic  hand.t  —  7.  On  account  of  Midian']  the  Hebrew 
phrase  is  not  very  common  and  is  all  but  confined  to  E.  |  — 
8.  A  prophef~\  lit.  a  prophet-man ;  cf.  4^.  §  —  Yahweh  the  God 
of  Israel'^  4^ ;  corresponding  phrases  are,  I  am  Yahweh  thy  God 
(Ex.  20^),  and,  Yahweh  our  God  (Jos.  24^^).  —  /  led  you  up  from 
Egypt  and  drought  you  out  of  the  slave  house']  the  place  where 
you  were  slaves.  This  deliverance  is  the  origin  of  the  peculiar 
relation  between  Yahweh  and  Israel  and  the  ground  of  its  obliga- 
tion to  keep  itself  to  him  only.  It  is  therefore  constantly  recalled 
as  the  prime  motive  to  faith  in  Yahweh  and  faithfulness  to  him 
alone,  or  to  aggravate  the  guilt  of  unfaithfulness  by  exposing  its 
folly  and  baseness  and  justify  the  extreme  severity  of  judgement ; 


*  D ;  so  Be.,  We.,  Sta.,  Dr.,  Kitt.  f  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  107  f. 

X  See  Holzinger  Einl.  in  den  Hexateuch,  p.  182  f. 

\  Cf.  I  S.  227'.  On  these  anonymous  prophets,  who  play  the  chorus  to  the  story, 
see  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  182  n.  The  motive  here  is  obvious  ;  reformation  must  precede 
deliverance.  According  to  Jewish  authorities  {Seder  Olam  c.  20),  the  prophet  of 
our  text  was  Phineas. 


1 82  JUDGES 

cf.  Am.  3^^  Hos.  13^  Jud.  2^  i  S.  10^^  &c. — 9.  I  rescued  you  from 
the  power  of  Egypf]  Ex.  3«  iS^-^  cf.  Jud.  8^*  i  S.  i2io-",  also 
Jud.  10"  (a  different  vQih).  — And  from  the  power  of  all  your 
oppressor s\  2^^  esp.  i  S.  lo^l*  —  And  expelled  tlmn  before  you 
and  gave  you  their  land'\  the  pronouns  grammatically  refer  to 
the  oppressors,  but  the  writer  is  thinking  of  the  populations  of 
Canaan  jt  cf.  Jos.  24^2f.i8  g^.  34^1  23=^.-10.  I  am  Yahweh  your 
God~\  Ex.  2ol —  Yots  shall  not  revere  the  gods  of  the  Amorites, 
in  whose  land  you  dwell~\  with  the  form  of  the  expression  cf.  2  K. 
J  ^35-40^  in  substance  Ex.  20^  (Dt.  5O  Ex.  34''  Dt.  6^^-^^  1229^-.  On 
the  Amorites,  see  above  on  3^ 

8.  DnifDD  DDPN  in-'S^jn]  common  in  E,  but  not  characteristic  of  that  work 
(Di.) ;  see  Holzinger,  p.  186.  —  on^;;  no]  ergastulum  ;  Ex.  133- 14  202  Jos.  24!^ 
Dt.  5^  6^2  &c.  (E,  Rje,  D).  —  9.  DD"'5JnS]  see  on  i^  2I8,  —  *^'"?.^.5<i]  Baer,  with 
a  few  codd.  and  old  edd.,  as  the  context  requires.  %  The  recepta  is  ti'njxi ; 
examples  of  the  same  anomaly,  in  some  instances  expHcitly  prescribed  by  the 
Massora,  see  Bo.  §  973,  2  ;  Dr^,  §  66  n.  On  the  use  of  the  verb  see  above 
on  2^.  —  njnsi]  the  energetic  (cohortative)  form  in  the  consec.  tense;  cf.  v.io 
10I2  123  (jgy-^  Dr3.  §  69,  Obs.  It  is  particularly  common  in  the  case  of  ^-lJ 
(Nu.  8^^  I  S.  2^8  2  S.  12^  Is.  43^^),  where  perhaps,  compensation  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  it. 

11-24.  The  Call  of  Gideon.  —  First  account.  The  Messenger 
of  Yahweh  appears  to  Gideon  and  summons  him  to  deliver  Israel 
from  the  Midianites.  He  protests  that  the  task  is  beyond  his 
powers,  and  is  assured  of  the  support  of  Yahweh.  Gideon  brings 
food  to  set  before  the  stranger,  at  the  touch  of  whose  staff  fire 
bursts  from  the  rock  and  consumes  the  bread  and  meat.  The 
visitor  vanishes.  Gideon  recognizes  that  it  was  the  Messenger  of 
Yahweh  and  fears  for  his  life.  He  is  reassured,  and  builds  the 
altar,  Yahweh-shalom,  which  stands  in  Ophrah. 

The  passage  has  no  connection  with  v.^-^°;  its  premises  are 
rather  to  be  found  in  v.^"^  In  what  follows,  v.^^"^^  is  not  the  sequel 
of  v."-^'',  but  a  second  account  of  the  call  of  Gideon  and  the 
building   of   the   altar.     The    closest    parallels   to  v.""-*  are   the 

*  The  similarity  between  Jud.  68f-  and  i  S.  lois  is  such  as  to  prove  either  that 
they  are  from  the  same  hand  or  that  one  author  has  copied  the  other, 
t  This  awkwardness  leads  Ki.  to  interpret  of  Sihon  and  Og ;  cf.  Schm. 
X  Ew.,  Krit.  Gram.,  p.  555 ;  cf.  Ko.,  i.  p.  190. 


VI.  9-II  i83 

appearance  of  Messenger  of  Yahweh  to  the  parents  of  Samson, 
Jud.  13""^^  and  the  appearance  of  Yahweh  to  Abraham  at  the 
sacred  trees  of  Mamre,  Gen.  i8^«"-  (J).  In  Jud.  6^^-^^  132-23  the 
whole  conception  and  representation,  as  well  as  the  more  external 
features  of  language  and  style,  strongly  resemble  the  Yahwistic 
narratives  of  the  Hexateuch,  and  the  passages  are  with  consider- 
able probability  ascribed  by  Bohme,  Budde,  and  Cornill  to  the 
same  author.* 

The  narrative  has  suffered  some  changes  at  the  hand  of  the 
redactor  or  later  editor,  the  distinctive  note  of  which  is  the  antici- 
pation of  Gideon's  recognition  of  his  visitor  (v.^^*^).  In  the 
attempt  to  separate  these  secondary  elements  and  restore  the 
original  context,  Bohme  undoubtedly  goes  too  far ;  f  Budde's 
analysis  is  more  conservative,  but  still  perhaps  subtracts  more 
than  is  necessary.  I  Verse  ^"^,  in  which  Gideon  already  recognizes 
the  Messenger,  but  wishes  to  have  the  confirmation  of  a  miracle, 
is  clearly  not  original.  Verse  ^,  in  which  the  flesh  and  the  cakes 
are  disposed  on  the  rock  as  on  an  altar  and  the  broth  poured  out 
as  a  libation,  is  also  secondary.  Corresponding  changes  have  not 
improbably  been  made  in  v.^^,  and  in  v.^*-  ^^. 

11.  T/ie  Messenger  of  Yahweh']  2^  s^  i3^^'-  The  Mal'ak  Yah- 
weh is  a  theophany.  In  all  the  old  accounts  of  such  appearances 
the  maVak  is,  first  or  last,  identified  with  the  deity ;  see  Gen.  1 6''" 
2J.17-19  2  2ii-»-i-i8  ^jn-13  g^.  32^-  Jud.  h.  /.,  133^- ;  cf.  also  Gcn.  32-*-«' 
with  Hos.  i2^*"-.  Gen.  48^^-^'^;  further  Gen.  18.  19,  in  which  Yahweh 
appears  precisely  as  elsewhere  the  MaVak  Yahweh.  In  the  Yah- 
wistic narratives  in  the  Pentateuch,  as  in  Judges  ch.  6  and  13,  the 
Messenger  of  Yahweh  appears  in  human  form  and  converses  freely 


*  The  resemblance  is  admitted  by  Kue.  {HCO^.  i.  p.  355),  who  questions  the 
validity  of  Bohme's  inference.  Kitt.  {Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  57  f.)  points  out 
countervaiHng  differences;  cf.  also  K6.,  Einl.,  p.  253  f.,  and  on  the  whole  question 
whether  J  and  E  can  be  traced  in  Jud.,  see  above,  Introduction  \  6. 

t  ZA  TW.  V.  p.  251  ff.  Bohme  (p.  259)  leaves  for  the  original  story  only  v.n  to 
n-iDy  (Ti:'N  to  nT>'n),  \\}^x\  to  D'-ton  (conclusion  to  ^nr),  v.12.  i3a.  Ha  -^^^xm  to  Sn"i!:'\ 
v.i7a.  18a  to  TiSx,  v.i8b.  19a  to  nrii2  (19b)  v.21-24.  (The  parts  about  which  he  is  less 
confident  in  parenthesis.) 

X  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  108  f. ;  cf.  Co.,  Einl'^.  p.  95  f.  Budde  (p.  109)  ascribes  to  J, 
v,ii-i3a.  13b  from  nn;?i  on,  v.i^a  from  -iidnm  on,  v.^-  ^6  (read  nini  "'3)  v.i'a.  i8a  to  TS^fini 
(the  original  object  has  been  supplanted),  v.JSb.  I3a  to  mi'::,  v.i'Jb  to  nSsn,  v.2i-24. 


1 84  JUDGES 

with  men  :  in  E  this  anthropomorphism  is  shunned  ;  the  Messenger 
speaks  from  heaven,  or  in  a  dream,  or  is  revealed  in  the  flames  of 
the  burning  bush  (Ex.  y).*  —  And  sat  dowfi\  hke  a  wayfarer 
seeking  rest  in  its  shade.  —  Under  the  holy  tree  that  is  in  Ophrah~\ 
on  holy  trees  see  on  4^^  (p.  121  f.).t  Ophrah,  v.^''  (cf.  8^-)  Ophrah 
of  the  Abiezrites,  the  Abiezrite  Ophrah,  probably  to  distinguish  it 
from  a  Benjamite  town  of  the  same  name  (Jos.  18^  i  S.  i3^0- 
The  site  is  unknown ;  from  ch.  9  it  may  be  probably  inferred  that 
it  was  not  very  far  from  Shechem.  Fer'ata  six  miles  WSW.  of 
Nabulus  has  been  suggested,  X  but  this  is  more  probably  Pirathon 
(12^^). § — Which  (tree)  belonged  to  Joash  the  Abiezrite^  the  holy 
tree  was  in  the  possession  of  Gideon's  family,  just  as  in  the  other 
narrative  (v.^)  the  village  altar  of  Baal  belonged  to  Jerubaal's 
father.  The  Abiezrites  were  a  clan  of  Manasseh  (v.^^  Nu.  26^  || 
Jos.  1 7-) .  —  Beating  out  wheat  in  the  wine-press']  threshing  in  the 
ordinary  way  was  not  to  be  risked;  the  threshing-floors  were 
especially  exposed  places.^  The  wine-press,  on  the  contrary,  a 
square  or  oblong  vat  excavated  in  the  sloping  surface  rock, 
afforded  some  concealment.**  Hither  Gideon  had  brought  a  few 
sheaves  of  wheat  and  was  whipping  them  out  with  a  stick  on  the 
floor  of  the  press.  — 12.  The  Messenger  shows  himself  and 
salutes  Gideon.  —  Yahweh  is  with  thee]  the  answer  shows  that  in 
Hebrew  (in  which  the  copula  is  not  expressed)  the  sentence  is 
felt  to  be  an  assertion,tt  rather  than  a  wish.  —  Stalwart  hero]  in 
Jud.  only  iii  (Jephthah)  ;  i  K.  ii^s  2  K.  5^  &c. ;  cf.  Jud.  182.— 
13.  The  salutation  sounds  to  Gideon  almost  ironical ;  the  present 
distress  is  plain  proof  that  Yahweh  is  not  with  them.  —  Where  are 
all  his  wo7ide?'/ul  intervefitions]   Ex.  3^  34^°  Jos.  3^  Mi.   7^^  — 

*See  Kosters, "  De  Mal'ach  Jahwe,"  Th.  T.  ix.  1875,  p.  369-415 ;  Schultz,  Alttest. 
Theol^.  p.  600  ff.  =  Old  Test.  TheoL,  ii.  p.  218  ff . ;  Smend,  Alttest.  Religionsge- 
schichte,  p.  42  ff.  Older  literature  and  theories,  see  Oehler,  Alttest.  Theol.  \  59.  60 ; 
cf.  Schm.,  quacst.  3. 

t  On  holy  trees  and  tree  worship  in  general,  see  the  literature  in  Chantepie  de 
la  Saussaye,  Religionsgeschichte,  i.  p.  61 ;  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture^,  ii.  p.  214  ff. ; 
Frazer,  Golden  Bough,  1890,  i.  p.  56-108. 

X  S  WP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  162. 

^  Rob.,  Z)'A'2.  iii.  p.  134;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  ii.  179  f. 

II  The  name  is  mutilated,  perhaps  not  by  accident;  cf.  ®.        f  See  on  v.3'?. 
**  For  a  description  of  the  wine-press,  sec  Rob.,  DR'^.  iii.  p.  137;  cf.  Nonnus, 
Dionys.,  xii.  331  ff.  ff  Fl.  Jos.,  Aug.,  al. 


VI.  II-I4  i85 

Which  our  fathers  recounted  to  us\  phrase  parallels,  Ps.  44^  78^; 
cf.  Ex.  12^^^-  13^- "^•.  —  But  now  Yahweh  has  cast  us  off  and  given 
us  into  the  grasp  of  Midian']  cf.  Jer.  12^  i  S.  12^^  i  K.  8" 
2  K.  21".* 

11.  InSd]  is  found  in  Heb.  only  in  a  concrete,  personal  sense,  'messenger'; 
or,  as  we  might  perhaps  translate,  *  agent,'  thus  making  the  relation  of  the 
word  to  hdxSd  more  obvious.  There  is  no  warrant  in  usage  for  an  explanation 
of  the  phrase  nini  -^nSd  which  goes  back  to  an  assumed  abstract  sense,  'the 
sending  of  Yahweh  '  (Vatke,  Ew.,  Reuss,  al.).  —  Vi^vh  t^'n]  the  tree  .  .  .  which 
belonged  to  Joash  (©IL,  Cler.,  Reuss,  Kitt.),  not  Ophrah  which  belonged  to  J. 
(5  a,  Ki.,  Drus.,  Schm.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Oettli).  —  'J)  £D3n  ij3  p;7"iJi]  as  Gideon 
was,  &c,;  circumstantial  clause.  J03n  Is.  28^'^  Ru.  2^'^  cf.  Dt.  24^0.  —  pj  is 
properly  the  upper  trough,  in  which  the  grapes  are  trodden;  ip^  (7^5)  the 
lower  one,  in  which  the  must  is  collected.  —  D-'jn'?]  Ex.  9'^°^  — 13,  ,j-,{<  ,jj  y_i5 
13^;  a  deprecatory  formula,  if  I  may  speak  without  offence,  begging  your 
pardon;  cf.  Gen.  4320  44I8  Ex.  410- ^3  (^^\\  j)^  Nu.  12II  i  S.  i'^  &c.  — mn^  s'^i] 
if  he  really  is,  as  you  say.  Instead  of  a  conditional  sentence  with  subordinated 
protasis  (on)'  ^^  have  simple  parataxis;  cf.  13^2  2  K.  lo^^.  So  very  often 
in  older  English;  e.g.  And  it  please  your  grace,  you  did  once  promise  me 
(Shakespeare).  See  New  English  Dictionary,  i.  p.  317^.  —  n;N]  skeptical; 
*  what  has  become  of;  cf.  the  ironical  use  of  the  particle  9^^  Jer.  2^^  Dt.  32^'^ 
(in)  &c.  —  itiinSsj]  things  extraordinary,  surpassing  men's  power  or  compre- 
hension (cf.  ■'nSd  13^^);  especially  of  the  wonderful  interventions  of  God  in 
the  history  of  his  people,  and  (later)  the  wonders  of  his  works  in  nature. f 
References  to  Yahweh's  wonderful  deliverances  are  frequent  in  the  Psalms, 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  all  references  to  them  are  so  late.  The  exx.  cited 
above  (Ex.  3-'^  34^'^  Jos.  3^)  all  occur  in  Yahwist  contexts.  In  the  passage 
before  us  the  words,  if  not  original  (J,  cf.  the  Hiphil  13^^^),  must  be  ascribed 
to  Rje,  not  to  Rd,  in  whom  the  word  seems  not  to  occur.  —  mn^  ij'j'toj  n.-i;7i] 
can  hardly  be  separated  from  the  foregoing  (Bu.),  but  stands  or  falls  with  it. 
Cf.  Jer.  2333-39  esp.  12},  which  Bohme,  without  sufficient  reason,  regards  as 
the  source  of  the  phrase  in  our  text;  see  also  Is.  2^.  —  piD  ^id^J  for  the  more 
common  i>3,  v.^*  i  S.  4^  2  S.  19^*^  &c. 

14.  Yahweh  turned  to  hifn']  %  with  the  following  (v.""^^)  cf. 
Ex.  3^""^.     The  Messenger  is  Yahweh  himself;  see  above  on  v.". 

*  From  these  parallels,  chiefly  in  writings  of  the  age  of  Jeremiah  or  later, 
Bohme  infers  that  v.i3b  is  an  editorial  enlargement  on  the  original  question,  v.i3a, 
Budde  agrees  as  to  the  beginning  of  v.i3b  (as  far  as  from  Egypt),  but  attributes  the 
rest  (but  now.  See.)  to  the  first  narrator,  connecting  it  with  v.i3a. 

t  Cf.  the  verb  2  S.  132  Dt.  178  30"  ;  of  God.,  Gen.  18^4  Jer.  21^  321"-  ^. 

X  Bohme,  Bu.,  ascribe  the  words  to  an  editorial  hand,  but  I  sec  no  sufficient 
reason  for  this. 


1 86  JUDGES 

@  6  ayycAo?  Kvpiov  to  conform  to  v.".  —  Go  in  this  might  of 
thine']  visible  in  his  powerful  frame  and  the  vigorous  strokes  of 
his  staff,  which  drew  from  the  visitor  the  admiring  address,  stal- 
wart hero,  v.^;  not,  the  might  which  is  now  given  thee.*  —  Do 
not  I  send  thee  /]  f  the  question  as  in  4^.  Since  the  visitor  does 
not  reveal  himself  in  his  true  character  till  v.^^,  we  should  expect 
rather,  doth  not  Yahweh  send  thee?  cf.  4^  We  may  suppose 
either  that  Gideon  took  his  visitor  for  a  man  of  God  (cf.  13^),  or, 
more  probably,  that  the  author  lapsed  from  strict  dramatic  pro- 
priety ;  see  also  on  v.-'^.  — 15.  Gideon  remonstrates  that  he  is  not 
equal  to  the  task.  —  How  (by  what  means)  should  I  deliver  Israel? 
My  sept  is  the  poorest  in  Manasseh,  and  I  the  most  insignificant 
man  in  ?ny  fajnily]  cf.  i  S.  9^\  The  protestation  is,  no  more  than 
that  of  Saul,  to  be  taken  too  literally.  Both  the  following  nar- 
ratives assume  that  the  hero's  family  was  one  of  rank  and  influ- 
ence in  the  clan.  — 16.  Yahweh  said  to  himy  Surely  I  will  be  with 
thee]  (fi^'"'-,  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  said  to  him,  the  Lord  will 
be  with  thee.  If  it  be  thought  too  violent  a  supposition  that 
the  author  here,  as  in  v.^*,  used  the  first  person  in  conformity 
with  the  knowledge  of  his  readers  that  the  speaker  was  Yahweh, 
rather  than  with  Gideon's  supposed  ignorance  of  that  fact,  we 
may  conjecture  that  the  original  text  was  simply,  and  he  said, 
Yahweh  will  be  with  thee,  %  and  that  in  supplying  the  explicit  sub- 
ject and  recasting  the  sentence  to  correspond  with  it,  the  editor 
of  5^  had  Ex.  3^^  in  mind.  —  As  one  man]  Nu.  14'^.  — 17.  Gideon 
asks  the  stranger  to  wait  till  he  can  set  food  before  him,  and  pre- 
pares him  a  meal ;  cf.  Gen.  18^'^  Jud.  13^^'^^.  —  If  I  find  favour  in 
thy  sight]  Gen.  18^ ;  a  favourite  phrase  of  the  Yahwist  in  the  Penta- 
teuch. §  —  Make  me  a  sign  that  thou  art  speaking  with  me]  Gideon 
recognizes  his  supernatural  visitant,  but  for  assurance  desires  a 
sign  such  as  is  given  in  the  sequel.  The  half-verse  thus  antici- 
pates v.^^^-  in  a  way  that  the  author  of  the  latter  verses  cannot  have 
done  ;  v."^*  connects  immediately  with  v.^'%  just  as  Gen.  iS^"^  does 
with  v.^**-  "*,  and  has  no  ulterior  purpose.  Verse  ^^^  is  therefore  an 
editorial  addition,  probably  by  the  same  hand  which  inserted  \P 

*  Ki.,  Be.,  al.    This  strength  of  faith,  Thdt. 

t  liOhme  regards  this  clause  also  as  secondary.  +  ©PV  al. ;  Bu. 

5  Di,,  NDy.  p.  625 ;  Holzinger,  Einleitung  in  den  Hexat,,  p.  97  f. 


vi.  14-19  187 

under  the  impression  that  the  meal  Gideon  prepared  was  intended 
from  the  first  as  a  sacrifice,  contrary  to  Gen.  18^^  and  esp. 
Jud.  13^^^-.*  That  the  words  are  not  part  of  the  original  narrative, 
is  in  some  degree  confirmed  by  the  unusual  relative  particle  tt^.f  — 
18.  Originally  followed  immediately  upon  v.^*^*;  see  above.  —  My 
offering^  Gen.  2^:^^  43"  i  S.  10^ ;  a  present  to  the  guest.  It  is  not 
impossible  that  the  word  has  been  substituted  for  the  original 
expression,  in  conformity  with  the  theory  that  Gideon  from  the 
beginning  intended  a  religious  offering;  see  note.  — 19.  Gideon 
prepai-ed  a  kid~\  i^^^-^^ -^  in  Gen.  18'  the  rich  sheikh  Abraham 
kills  a  calf.  —  An  ephah  of  flour]  The  quantity  (more  than  a 
bushel)  is  altogether  disproportionate,  especially  in  the  circum- 
stances ;  cf.  I  Sam.  i'"*,  where  an  ephah  of  flour  is  enough  to  go 
with  a  three  year  old  bullock  (({|  ,S ;  J^  three  bullocks  !),  Gen.  i8^ 

—  The  77ieat  he  put  in  a  basket  and  the  broth  in  a  pot,  and 
brought  it  out  to  him  under  the  tree  aftd  presented  it~\  cf.  Gen.  i8^ 
Bohme  and  Budde  ascribe  the  half  verse  (Bu.  excepts,  and 
bj'ought  it  out  to  him  under  the  tree)  to  the  redaction.  It  seems 
improbable,  however,  that  these  concrete  details,  which  are  not 
essential  to  the  conception  of  an  offering,  or,  indeed,  consonant 
with  ritual  customs,  were  introduced  by  an  editor. 

15.  "iJlN  '•3]  the  pronunciation,  in  distinction  from  ••jin  v.^^,  means  to 
intimate  that  Gideon  now  recognizes  his  visitor  as  divine.  —  Sin  ■•oSx]  ^Sn  is, 
like  nnflt^D,  a  branch  of  a  tribe  (iDJc)  larger  than  the  family  (3N  no);  see 
I  S.  10I9-21. — n^yxn]  I  S.  921 ;  often  in  the  sense  minor  natu.  Gen.  25^3  4333 
48^'*  &c.  — 16.  ia;r  n^nx  13]  verbatim  Ex.  3I2.  It  has  been  conjectured  above 
that  the  author  wrote,  hd);  n>n^  r\\r\>  (i  S.  1737);  cf.  0.  — 17.  mx  h  n>B'p] 
perhaps  the  sign  also  was  suggested  by  Ex.  3^2.  The  words  must  be  construed 
as  apodosis;  cf.  Gen.  3310.  nix  n^'j?  Ex.  4I7.21  Nu.  14"- 22  Jos.  24!^  Dt.  ii3; 
nowhere  in  precisely  this  sense,  in  which  we  should  expect  nix  \tm  (Jos.  2^2) . 

—  ■'d;?  1310  nnxr]  we  expect  -\an?:n  (Gen.  45^-),  that  it  is  thou  that  speakest; 
the  article  may  have  been  accidentally  omitted.  The  relative  fv  in  Jud.  5"  6" 
>jyi  8'26.  .^.i  only  here  in  O.T.,  elsewhere  before  gutturals  r.  — 18.  Bohme 
ascribes  v.^Sa^  (^and  bring  out  my  offering  and  set  it  before  thee)  to  an  editor; 
Bu.  thinks  that  the  editor  has  changed  the  original  object  of  the  verb  (food; 
cf.  Gen.  18''  Jud.  131^)  into  a  religious  offering.  But  it  is  not  clear  that 
nnjD  need  be  taken  in  this  specific  sense;  J  the  verb  (n-'jn)  certainly  does  not 
suggest  such  an  intention.      The  noun  may  possibly  have  been  chosen  on 

*  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  183  n.        f  Giesebrecht,  ZA  TW.  i.  p.  280  n. ;  cf,  7I2  8^6. 
X  In  13I9  nnjDn  nxi  is  an  interpolation. 


1 88  JUDGES 

account  of  its  ambiguity,  as  a  hint,  not  a  bald  anticipation,  of  the  disposition 
of  what  Gideon  set  before  the  stranger.*  —  ^nNsini  .  .  .  nsD  r;'j  see  on  i62; 
Dr^.  §  115  (p-  134)-  — 19.  nii'O  nnp  pdinJ  he  prepared  it  as  unleavened  cakes, 
made  it  up  into  cakes;  cf.  i  S.  28^*,  Gen.  18^  Nu.  ii^  (n^^v),  Ex.  1239.  The 
ephah  was  according  to  the  smallest  computation  over  a  bushel.  —  P";Dn]  (so 
Ki.,  Norzi,  Baer)  v.-^  Is.  65^  (Qere) ;  ^i,ii}.b%,  jus ;  cf.  Arab,  maraq;  others 
understand  the  pot  liquor  in  which  the  meat  had  been  boiled  (Ki.;  cf. 
Schm.).  —  Sd]  a  closely  woven  shallow  basket  or  tray,  Gen.  40!^  &c.  —  -ins] 
Nu.  11^  I  S.  2^^*  a  cooking  vessel,  of  what  kind  we  have  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining. Bohme  {I.e.  p.  254)  rejects  v.^^'^  with  v.^O;  the  broth  was  introduced 
by  some  one  who  thought  a  libation  indispensable;  the  whole  representation 
presumes  that  a  religious  offering  is  intended.  So  Bu.  also.  But  if  the  object 
was  to  convert  Gideon's  hospitality  into  a  sacrifice,  it  would  have  been  done 
unmistakably.  In  no  ritual  that  we  know  was  meat  presented  in  a  basket  (as 
unleave*ied  cakes  were)  or  a  libation  made  of  broth.  It  is  conceivable  that 
such  rites  existed  in  this  early  time;  t  but  not  that  such  a  description  proceeds 
from  a  late  editor.  I  find  in  the  words,  however,  no  certain  evidence  of  a 
sacrificial  intention;  even  rri  is  properly  used  of  bringing  food  to  one,  putting 
it  within  his  reach  (Gen.  272^). 

20,  21.  The  food  which  Gideon  brings  out  is  converted  into  an 
offering.  Fire  from  the  rock  consumes  it;  the  Messenger  van- 
ishes.—  20.  Messenger  of  God,  instead  of  Messe?7ger  of  Yahweh, 
is  striking,  and  with  some  other  pecuHarities  of  expression  arouses 
the  suspicion  that  the  verse  is  by  a  different  hand.  This  sus- 
picion is  strengthened  by  the  contents  of  the  verse ;  and  Bohme 
and  Budde  are  probably  right  in  regarding  it  as  a  later  addition  to 
the  story.  Verse  ^^  connects  equally  well  with  v.^'"*.  See  further  in 
crit.  note.  —  21.  The  Messenger  touches  the  food  with  the  tip  of 
his  walking-stick,  at  which  fire  springs  up  from  the  rock  and  con- 
sumes it;  cf.  I  K.  1 8-^^  2  Chr.  7^  2  Mace.  2^0-13  l^^^  ^^\_The 
Messenger  of  Yahweh  passed  from  his  sighf~\  this  is  in  conflict 
with  v.^"-  ^,  in  which  Gideon  addresses  his  visitor  and  is  answered 
by  him  as  though  still  present.  That  the  reassuring  voice  (v.^) 
came  back  from  heaven  \  is  in  no  way  intimated  in  the  text. 
Probably  the  words   are   an  addition   suggested  by   13"^  ;§    the 

*  Stud.  On  the  other  hand,  the  wxird  may  have  been  the  occasion  of  the 
editor's  misunderstanding  and  led  to  the  other  changes  in  the  verses. 

t  We.,  who  is  inclined  to  see  here  a  very  old  custom. 

X  Ki.,  RLbG.,  Schm.,  and  many, 

§  Observe  how  completely  the  two  stories  are  fused  by  FI.  Jos.,  unit.  v.  8,  3 
§  283  f.,  and  cf.  the  unconscious  conformation  in  the  interpretation  of  Ki.,  al. 


VI.    20-24 


1 89 


unsuitable  position  of  the  clause  is  explained  by  a  comparison  of 
622f-  with  132^-.  — 22.    Oh,  my  lord  Yahweh  /]  cry  of  consternation 

T^o    ^7   T^r    F7  •  cf  Tud.  11^'.  —  Because  I  have  seen 
or  distress  ;  Jos.  7  ,  Jer.,  ii.z. ,  ci.  juu.  1 1 

//,^  J/m.;/<^^r  ^/  Kz/^^^/^/^  >^^  ^o  face^  and  therefore  must  die. 
The  behef  that  such  a  sight  forebodes  the  death  of  him  whose 
profane  eyes  have  thus  violated  Hhe  mystery  of  godhead,  Jud.  13- 
Gen    16^^  32««  Ex.   20^^^^^)  33^"  I^.   6\-23.   Yahweh   reassures 
him  -7%^//   art  safe^   lit.   it  is  well  with   thee;   cf.  Gen.  43 
Tud   ig'«  —24    Gideon  builds  an  altar  which  in  the  author's  day 
was'still'standmg  in  Ophrah,  the  name  of  which,  YalMialom 
(Yahweh  is  well-disposed),  perpetuates  the  words  of  God  m  v.  . 
Examples  of  altars  with  commemorative  names,  Gen.  33        35 
Ex   17^^      That  v.^^^-^^  are  an  integral  part  of  the  original  narra- 
tive is  rightly  maintained  by  Bohme  t  and  Budde,  \  against  Well- 
hausen. § 

20.  o^nSxn  i«Sd]  as  in  ^  (?•-)  ^e  tradition  ^^  -"f ''"g;  o"'''  ®7 
supports  m;  all  other  versions  have  Angel  of  the  Lord.  The  text  w.ll  hardly 
:  tata  Ihri'nference  that  the  original  narrator  of  ^'"^^-^^  °"  „■; 
Yahweh  II  D^ni^xn  in  1  may  be  due  only  to  transcriptional  ace  dent,  so  far 
as  appea  both  Rje  arui  Rd  write  n,n.  i«Sd.  Compare  the  dwme  names  m 
NuTa  Tud  .3.^  -Other  differences,  v«  .^o,  v.^i  .«;  v.»  the  rare  demon- 
^ratfve.sn(,  1.4^  ,7-&c.).-21.  n*'.-D]  etymologieally,  someth.ng  on 
r:Vmaileans\or^ort.E...;;Zee.^P«^^^^^ 

't^:r;sr:^^^"^:Tb:t"atiiare\;^^^^^^^^^ 

1  Ue  thaTf  ther  li^ilatio'n  in  such  details  was  almost  inevitable.  Kosters 
seems  to  go  too  far  in  thinking  that  6--^  has  been  worked  over  throughou  n 
seems  to  go  ,,_22.  ,,1,5,3-1  in  the  Hexateuch  chiefly  m  J.- n'l= 

conformity  with  ch.  13.  '■'■   V  ■}  =J  ^  ,^l,„l„s 

0,.=  Sx]  Gen.  3.»  Ex.  33"  Dt.  34     cf  S'--^*^  ^       ^jJ^^,J^_  ^,  ,,„ 

take  the  second  noun  as  S-'''^' ff  f  ^  °  ^"'^Jlgainst  analogy;  cf.  rather 
myasitt  but  this  is  unnecessary  (see  i  b.  2^  j  ana  ai,a  ^^ 

other  names  of  a  similar  sort  are  ns.^  nin.  Gen.  22    ,  ^?V  4 

"t;:;;;;;":;^^        (.assebah).  t  ^^^^^•;-P3f ^'• 

t  i?..^/.  u.  Sam.,  p.  X09.  §  Comp.,  P'  ^^  •'  ^^^  ^^"'  ^  '^'-  ^^  ^^  '''' 

II  We..  Comp.,  p.  226  ("  P^^f^J. 7-^^.^^^^,,^,   i.  p.  7,,_7i6.  whose  caution  on 

H  See  Klostermann,  Neuc  kirchl.  ZeUscnrift,^.  v  J  J 
this  point  deserves  attention,  in  spite  of  exaggeration.  Th  T  ix.  p.  397   • 

tt  So  I^th..  Drus..  Cler.  (alt.).  Ges.  (supposing  an  mscnption  =^^  n,nv  .    of. 
Schm.),  Stud.,  Sta.,  al. 


IQO  JUDGES 

§449.  —  We.  {CoTup.,  p.  226)  finds  that  the  altar  and  sacrifice  (?)  of  v.22-24 
zom^  post  festiun ;  the  original  altar  was  the  stone  itself.  Stade  {GVI.  i. 
p.  183  f.)  thinks  the  verses  possibly  the  close  of  a  lost  account  of  the  origin 
of  the  holy  place  at  Ophrah.  But  when  the  changes  made  by  editorial  hands 
in  the  preceding  verses  are  recognized,  v.22-24  is  seen  to  be  the  natural  and 
ahnost  indispensable  close  of  the  narrative  before  us  in  v.^^^- 

25-32.  Call  of  Gideon.  —  Second  account.  Yahweh  calls  Gideon 
first  of  all  to  destroy  the  altar  of  Baal  which  belongs  to  his  father 
and  the  sacred  post  {asheraJi)  that  stands  beside  it ;  to  build 
on  a  designated  spot  an  altar  of  Yahweh,  and  offer  upon  it  a 
certain  bullock  as  a  dedicatory  sacrifice.  He  does  so  by  night. 
When  the  sacrilege  is  discovered  and  its  perpetrator  detected,  the 
townspeople  demand  that  he  be  put  to  death.  His  father  Joash 
persuades  them  to  leave  it  to  Baal  to  avenge  the  outrage  done 
him,  "  If  he  is  a  god  let  him  take  his  own  part."  The  oracular 
words  of  Joash,  who  as  the  custodian  of  the  holy  place  was  natu- 
rally the  priest  of  Baal,  explain  the  name  Jerubbaal. 

These  verses  are  loosely  joined  to  the  foregoing  by  the  words, 
in  that  night  (cf.  7^),  but  so  far  from  being  the  continuation  of 
v."'-"*,  v.^^'^^  belong  to  a  second  and  altogether  different  account 
of  the  call  of  Gideon.  The  writer  who  narrates  in  v.^'*  the  build- 
ing of  the  altar,  Yahweh-shalom,  cannot  have  gone  on  to  relate 
the  building  of  another  altar  of  Yahweh  in  v.^^-,  nor  did  the 
author  of  the  latter  verses  have  before  him  v.^^'^.  In  v.^^  the  holy 
tree  at  Ophrah,  on  the  land  of  Joash,  is  the  sacred  spot  where 
Yahweh  appears,  and  there  is  no  intimation  that  Israel  is  addicted 
to  heathenish  cults,  or  that  its  calamities  are  the  punishment  of 
defection ;  in  v.^^-  Joash  is  the  proprietary  custodian  of  the  vil- 
lage altar  of  Baal  with  its  sacred  post  {asherah),  and  these  must 
be  destroyed  before  Yahweh  will  deliver  his  people.  The  premises 
of  v.^-^^  are  to  be  found  rather  in  v.^"^*^.  The  latter  verses  break 
off  abruptly  (see  p.  i8i).  We  may  infer  from  the  analogous 
passages  (2^''-^''  lo"'^^  i  S.  7^^-  10"-^^  12^^)  that  in  the  original  con- 
nexion the  prophet  went  on  to  upbraid  them  more  specifically  for 
their  lapse  into  heathenism  (worship  of  Baal),  and  to  declare  that 
it  was  for  this  that  Yahweh  had  given  them  over  to  their  foes.  As 
a  scfiuel  to  this,  Gideon  is  called  to  begin  the  reformation  by 
destroying  the  village  altar  of  Baal  and  restoring  the  abandoned 


VI.  25  IQX 

worship  of  Yahweh.  Budde  appears  to  me  to  be  right  in  seeing 
in  v.^'^^,  not  a  free  amphfication  of  the  story  by  a  later  author,* 
but  part  of  a  parallel  narrative,  which  may  with  considerable 
probabiHty  be  ascribed  to  E. 

25.  That  night']  cf.  2  S.  7''  2  K.  19"'^.  In  the  present  con- 
nexion, the  night  after  the  appearance  of  the  Messenger  of 
Yahweh  to  Gideon ;  originally,  if  our  analysis  is  correct,  the  night 
after  the  prophet  delivered  his  reproof  (v/'^") .  —  Verse  ^^"^  speaks 
apparently  of  two  bullocks,  and  in  the  sequel  we  read  of  the 
sacrifice  of  the  second  bullock  (v.^^-^)  ;  but  what  is  to  be  done 
with  the  other  does  not  appear.  The  text  is  unintelligible,  and 
no  satisfactory  emendation  has  been  suggested.  Kuenenf  pro- 
posed to  restore,  with  the  aid  of  v.-*^,  Take  ten  men  of  thy  servants 
and  a  bullock,  of  seven  years,  but  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  this 
could  have  been  so  corrupted.  See  critical  note.  —  Pull  down  the 
altar  of  Baal  which  thy  father  has,  and  cut  down  the  sacred  post 
which  is  by  it]  the  altar  was  the  holy  place  of  the  town  (v.^*^)  ; 
Joash  was  its  custodian  by  proprietary  right,  as  the  family  of 
Micah  would  have  become  of  his  temple  in  Mt.  Ephraim  (17^*^), 
or  as  Gideon's  descendants  would  have  been  of  the  image  of 
Yahweh  in  Ophrah  (S^^).  +  —  On  Baal  see  above  on  2^^  (p.  69  f). 
—  The  sacred  post  which  is  by  it]  the  sacred  post  (asherah)  was 
of  wood,  and,  if  we  may  argue  from  v.-^,  of  considerable  size. 
Such  posts  seem  to  have  belonged  to  every  Canaanite  place  of 
worship  (Ex.  34^^,  altars,  steles,  asherahs,  Dt.  12^  i  K.  14-^  2  K.  17^*^ 
Is.  17^),  and  in  old  times  stood  not  only  beside  the  altars  of  the 
Baals,  but  by  those  of  Yahweh  (Dt.  16^^),  even  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  (2  K.  21^  23^).  According  to  Jewish  tradition  the 
asherah  might  be  a  living  tree,  and  many  modern  scholars  infer  as 
much  from  Dt.  16^^ ;  but  usually,  beyond  question,  it  was  a  post  or 
mast.  The  shape  of  the  asherah  is  not  certainly  known ;  but  it 
is  not  improbable  that  asherahs  are  represented  by  the  posts  of 
varying  forms,  often  with  a  conical  top,  which  occur  so  frequently 
in  sacrificial  scenes  on  Assyrian  marbles,  and  on  Assyrian,  Phoeni- 

*  We.,  Sta.,  Kue.,  Kitt. ;  see  above,  p.  175  f. 
t  In  Doom.,  p.  70  n. ;  adopted  by  Kautzsch. 

X  On  such  rights  in  holy  places  see  We.,  Reste  arabischen  Heidentumes,  p.  128  f. ; 
cf.  Ibn  Hisham,  ed.  Wustenfeld,  p.  54  f. 


192  JUDGES 

cian,  and  Cypriote  seals  and  gems.*  The  origin  and  meaning 
of  the  asherah  are  also  involved  in  obscurity.  —  26.  Gideon  is 
directed  to  build  an  altar  to  Yahweh  on  a  different  site.  —  On  the 
highest  point  of  this  stro7ighold~\  the  word  which  follows  is  not 
intelligible  in  this  context ;  either  it  is  a  technical  term  the  mean- 
ing of  which  is  lost,  or,  as  seems  more  Hkely,  the  text  is  at  fault. 
It  is  to  be  presumed  that,  as  in  the  parallel  narrative  (v.^^),  the 
writer  has  in  mind  an  altar  standing  in  his  day,  and  that  the  words 
describe  its  site.  He  is  to  dedicate  the  altar  by  the  sacrifice  of  a 
bullock,  using  for  fuel  the  wood  of  the  sacred  post  which  he  has 
cut  down.  The  whole  burnt  offering  is  the  proper  dedicatory 
sacrifice.  —  The  second  bullock']  v.^^.  The  words  are  grammatically 
unimpeachable,  but  the  disorder  of  v.^^  makes  it  doubtful  whether 
they  are  correct;  not  improbably  the  second  is  interpolated  in 
both  verses,  to  conform  to  the  (corrupt)  text  of  v.^. 

25.  That  the  text  is  corrupt  should  need  no  demonstration;  iv^'n  id  and 
Qijt:'  v^'^y  ^jtrn  ID  are  meaningless  and  grammatically  impossible  collocations 
of  words.  The  second  bidlock  of  seven  years  old  (EV.,  following  (^iLS)  t 
would  be  cjt:'  ;73i:'  13.  As  nothing  is  said  in  the  sequel  about  any  other 
bullock,  many  interpreters  infer  that  only  one  is  spoken  of  here,  and  translate, 
Take  the  bullock  which  belongs  to  thy  father,  even  the  second  bullock,  &c.; 
so  Trem.-Jun.,  Pise,  AV.,  RV.,  Ke.,  al.;  the  conjunction  is  explained  in  the 
same  way  {et  quidem)  by  Ew.,  Stud.  (cf.  RJes.);  it  is  omitted  by  (g^^M, 
Ingenious,  but  improbable  explanations  of  the  second  bullock  (second  calf  of 
its  dam)  are  given  by  Abulw.,  Tanch.  (on  i  S.  15^);  cf.  Ki.,  Roed.  (Ges.  Thes. 
p.  1451),  Bo.,  al.  RJes.  and  Stud,  interpret  y^://^^;  Ew,  connects  ''TZ^  with 
r\yi''  in  the  sense,  annosus.  The  word  is  omitted  by  ^*inp7  5^]-,  ^st.  S;  appar- 
ently -\r^'n  -ID  and  "•Jtt'n  id  are  doublets,  and  both  corrupt.  ©  suggests  the 
conjecture  ^ce'n  non  (cf.  i  S.  15^,  We.,  Dr.),  but  the  corruption  is  probably 
deeper.  With  the  seven  years  it  seems  impossible  to  do  anything  at  all; 
cf.  ^,  Tej/iurah,  28^,  Ra.,  RJes.,  al.;  Hitzig  conjectured  that  they  were 
accidentally  introduced  from  6^.  —  mDH  xhy  ib'X  nitt'Nni]  not  upon  the  altar, 
but  beside  it.  nn'^N  almost  uniformly  ©  BXco^  %  lucus  AV.  grove ;  KV. 
Asherah,  explained  (Ex.  34^  nig.),  the  wooden  symbols  of  a  goddess  Asherah. 
The  asherah  is  named  in  conjunction  with  high  places,  altars,  steles,  carved 
stones,  images.  The  verbs  which  are  used  in  describing  the  making  and 
erection  and  the  destruction  of  an   asherah  show  that  it  was  an  upright 

*  See  numbers  of  them  in  Lajard,  Culie  de  Mithra,  1857 ;  Ohnefalsch-Richter 
Kypros.  See  further,  art.  "Asherah"  in  New  Bible  Dictionary  (A.  &  C.  Black)  ; 
W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  171  ff.  On  the  goddess  Asherah,  see 
above  on  3^  (p.  86  f.).  f  Or,  a  second  bullock. 


VI.  25-30  193 

wooden  post  or  mast.*  From  Dt.  iG^i  It  has  been  inferred  that  it  was 
originally  a  living  tree,t  for  which  the  post  is  then  supposed  to  be  a  conven- 
tional substitute;  see  e.g.  Di.  on  Dt.  I.e.  But  in  this  passage  we  should  not 
translate,  an  asherah  of  any  kind  of  tree  (RV.),  but,  an  asherah, — any 
wooden  object. %  For  }>p  'pale,'  cf.  Dt.  2i22,  As  yet  the  Phoenician  inscrip- 
tions, in  which  the  word  has  been  found  once  or  twice,  throw  no  light  on  the 
subject.  The  etymology  of  the  word  is  also  obscure.  G.  Hoffmann  would 
connect  it  with  Arab,  athar ;  perhaps  only  the  mark  of  a  place  of  worship. 
The  Assyr.  asm,  anrtu,  pi.  asrdti,  also  esreti,  which  Fr.  Delitzsch  and  others 
interpret  *  holy  place,  sanctuary,  temple,'  §  have  also  been  compared.  See 
New  Bible  Dictionary^  s.  v.  —  26.  ri;JD]  perhaps  a  natural  stronghold  rather 
than  a  fortification;  cf.  n;?D  "iix  Is.  17I0.  The  word  does  not  occur  elsewhere 
in  the  historical  books;  cf.  miXD  in  the  story  of  David.  —  nD-i;?D3]  nD-i;;D  is  a 
row  or  rank;  in  hist,  books,  of  soldiers  in  line  of  battle,  but  hardly,  place 
where  the  ranks  are  formed  (^place  d^armes).  |1  Jerome  interprets  of  the  wood 
regularly  laid  upon  the  altar,  similarly  Ke.  (MH.  usage) ;  Stud.,  Be^,,  of  the 
courses  of  stone  of  which  the  altar  was  to  be  built  (cf.  the  verb,  Nu.  23*) ; 
Cler.,  Be^.,  al.,  of  a  rampart  or  bastion  built  of  courses  of  masonry.  —  -"xyij 
mirsn]  D>xy  fire  wood  Gen.  2'1'-  ^  Is.  3o33  and  often. 

27-32.  Gideon  destroys  the  altar  of  Baal.  He  is  saved  from 
the  wrath  of  his  townsmen  by  Joash.  —  27.  Gideon  with  ten  of 
his  men  carries  out  the  divine  command.  In  this  narrative  Joash 
is  supposed  to  be  a  man  of  much  importance  in  the  community, 
with  a  numerous  household  of  servants,  a  representation  quite 
different  from  that  of  v.^^'^'*.^  For  fear  of  his  fellow  townsmen, 
and  of  his  own  family,  who  as  the  custodians  of  the  holy  place 
would  be  most  incensed  by  its  destruction,  Gideon  did  his  work  at 
night.  —  28.  The  townspeople  awoke  in  the  morning  to  find  the 
altar  of  the  Baal  pulled  to  pieces  and  the  sacred  post  cut  down. 
The  second  half- verse  is  somewhat  clumsily  phrased  and  is  not 
improbably  the  addition  of  a  scribe,  who  missed  an  explicit  men- 
tion of  the  fulfilment  of  the  direction  in  v.-'*^^  —  29.  Upon  inves- 
tigation they  ascertain  that  Gideon  is  the  perpetrator  of  the 
sacrilege.  —  30.  They  demand  that  Joash  surrender  his  son  to 
them,  that  he  may  expiate  his  offence  by  death.     To  take  him  by 


*  So  Saad.  and  Abulw.  translate. 

t  Cf.  Sifre  on  Dt.  128  (§  61)  ;  Abodah  zarah,  45a-  b ;   Ra.,  Ki., 
X  Cf.  Sifre  §  145 ;   Tamid,  28^.     Not  impossibly  the  words  }'j'  So  are  a  gloss. 
^  Assyr.  Handworterbuch,  p.  148.     See  against  Delitzsch,  Jensen,  Kosmologie, 
p.  200.  11  Cf.  Schm.,  JHMjch.  H  Note  especially  v."-  is. 

Q 


194  JUDGES 

force  might  embroil  them  with  the  kindred  of  Joash  and  be  the 
beginning  of  a  blood  feud  whose  end  no  man  could  foresee.  So 
the  Qoreish  at  Mecca  tried  to  persuade  Mohammed's  uncle, 
Abu  Talib,  to  withdraw  from  him  his  protection,  that  they  might 
kill  the  pestilent  agitator  without  incurring  the  vengeance  of  his 
family.*  —  31.  Joash,  who  as  the  proprietary  custodian  of  the 
holy  place  may  be  supposed  to  speak  also  for  the  god,  rebukes 
their  presumption ;  will  they  intervene  to  prevent  Baal  from  vin- 
dicating himself?  —  To  all  who  were  arrayed  against  Mm]  lit. 
stood;  others,  who  stood  near  himy  in  which  sense  the  words  are 
superfluous.  —  Will  you  take  up  BaaVs  quarrel?  Or  will  you 
vindicate  him?]  save  him  from  his  adversary;  cf.  Job  13^  —  If 
he  is  a  god,  let  him  take  his  own  part]  deorum  injuriae  dis  curae.f 
In  the  thought  of  the  writer,  which,  however,  we  must  beware  of 
attributing  to  Joash,  the  words  have  an  ironical  point;  Baal's 
inability  to  defend  himself  is  a  proof  that  he  is  no  god;  cf. 
I  K.  18"^"^.  The  conditional  sentence  would  naturally  follow 
immediately  upon  the  question  in  v.^  :  Will  you  take  Baal's  part  ? 
will  you  defend  him?  If  he  is  a  god,  let  him  take  his  own  part. 
This  obvious  connexion  is  broken  by  the  sentence  which  is  inter- 
posed :  Whoever  takes  up  his  (Baal's)  quarrel  shall  be  put  to 
death  by  morning]  in  these  words,  the  difficulty  of  which  cannot 
be  evaded  by  a  diff"erent  translation,  Joash  appears  to  threaten 
with  death  any  one  who  rashly  puts  himself  forward  as  the 
champion  of  Baal ;  he  will  defend  his  son  by  force  if  need  be.  J 
This  would  be  in  itself  a  conceivable  sequel  to  his  question ;  but 
a  very  tame  one  compared  with  v.^,  If  he  is  a  god,  &c. ;  both 
cannot  be  original.  Probably,  therefore,  the  intruding  words  were 
added  here  by  an  editor  or  scribe ;  perhaps  originally  a  gloss 
intended  for  a  different  place  or  in  a  different  sense.  At  the  end 
of  the  verse  the  words,  because  he  pulled  down  his  altar,  seem  to 
have  been  repeated  from  v.^^*'  with  superfluous  explicitness. — 
32.  Explanation  of  the  name  Jerubbaal.  —  He  (Joash)  gave  hi?n 
that  day  the  name  Jerubbaal]  better,  pronouncing  the  verb  as 
passive,  He  (Gideon)  was  called,  he  got  the  7iame.  —  That  is  to 


*  Ibn  Hisham,  ed.  Wustenfeld,  p.  167-169. 

t  Tiberius ;  Tac,  annal.,  i.  73,  +  RLbG.,  Schm.,  Cler. 


VI.  30-32  195 

say,  Let  Baal  contend  with  him,  bechuse  he  pulled  down  his 
altar]  Jerubbaal  is  another  name  of  Gideon  (7*  8^^  •"'^  9  passim)  ; 
in  the  present  shape  of  the  narrative  the  relation  between  the  two 
is  not  clear.  For  a  hypothesis  about  the  use  of  the  names  in  the 
older  stories  of  J  and  E,  see  on  f.  For  several  centuries  after 
the  occupation  of  Canaan  the  word  bdal  (proprietor)  was  used 
by  the  Israehtes  as  innocently  as  el  {tiumen)  or  adon  (lord),  and 
men  whose  loyalty  to  Yahweh  is  above  suspicion  gave  baal-names 
to  their  children.  Saul  had  a  son  Ishbaal ;  Jonathan,  a  son 
Meribaal ;  David,  a  son  Baaljada.  As  in  similar  compounds  of 
el  and  adon,  the  unnamed  deity  is  no  other  than  Yahweh.  So, 
doubtless,  it  was  with  Jerubbaal.  In  later  times,  through  the 
operation  of  causes  which  we  cannot  develop  here,  the  baals  of 
Canaan  are  set  over  against  Yahweh  the  God  of  Israel,  and  the 
name  baal  becomes  the  very  signature  of  heathenism.  The  old 
proper  names  compounded  with  baal  then  became  a  stumbling 
block,  and  in  our  texts  are  generally  mutilated.  Jerubbaal 
becomes  Jerubbesheth  (2  S.  11-^),  as  Ishbaal  is  perverted  into 
Ishbosheth.*  In  our  text  also  it  is  assumed  that  the  Canaanite 
Baal  (v.^^)  is  meant,  but  by  an  ingenious  etymology  the  name 
is  made  to  signify,  Adversary  of  Baal. 

27.  Ji  ma'i?^  .  .  .  von  n^3  nx  k-;!"  -ics::]  combination  of  two  common 
constructions  of  st,  with  the  ace.  of  the  person  feared,  and  with  p  and 
the  int.,  fear  to  do  something;  cf.  Ex.  348'^.  — 28.  ^;-•;^^  ^js^n  -\q7\  pni]  passive 
with  direct  obj.  in  ace;  Ges.^^  §  121,  I ;  on  the  frequency  of  this  construction 
in  late  Hebrew,  see  Giesebrecht,  ZA  TIV.  i.  p.  263  f.  — 'uan]  Neh.  7*  Cant.  4* 
Ps.  I223+.  —  31.  v'^y  noj?  nrx  ^:h']  ':'>  ""DV  in  the  sense  'stand  up  against  one' 
C^y  D>p)  is  found  only  in  late  Hebrew  (Ges.,  Stud.),  but  we  may  take  nD>*  in 
its  usual  meaning  and  stiJl  give  to  the  preposition  a  hostile  force.— ddnh 
'^';2'^  p3np]  +  the  emphatic  pronoun  in  contrast  to  the  last  clause,  If  he  is  a 
god  let  him  contend  for  himself.  Cf.  Job  13^  rn>->.-i  ^vh  dn.— ;7>t:Mn]  vindi- 
cate, avenge  ;  i  S.  2^-  "^i-  ^.  Observe  how  the  old  imperfect  endings  roll  out 
in  the  energy  of  speech.  —  i'^  3''">''  "^'i'S']  ©  (with  various  turns)  and  H  {qui 
adversarius  est  ejus)  take  ^  3n  in  the  sense  of  Sn  a^n  contend  against,  Jud.  2122 
Jer.  12I  Job  33^*^;  but  in  this  connexion  the  author  cannot  have  employed  the 
preposition  with  a  force  exactly  the  opposite  of  that  which  it  has  in  the  pre- 
ceding and  following  clauses,  especially  as  he  had  the  choice  of  three  or  four 


*  Seie  We.,  TBS^  p.  30  f; ;  Baudissin,  Siudieh  zur  semit.  Religionsgeschichte,  i. 
p.  108  n. ;   Driver,  TBS.  p.  195  f^ 

f  ©B  puts  the  words  into  the  mouth  of  Gideon. 


196  JUDGES 

usual  and  unambiguous  expressions.  —  np^n  t;  ncv]  the  Hophal  would  hardly 
be  used  if  the  meaning  was  that  Baal  would  slay  him.*  -\p2n  t;  by  morning; 
usually  the  morning  of  the  following  day;  of.  Jud.  i62  i  S.  2522  2  S.  if^  &c. 
(Stud.).  Others  interpret  here  of  the  same  day,  during  the  morning  (Schm., 
Cler.,  JHMich.,  Be.t).  — 1':'  :3n^]  Job  13^;  for  reflexive  force  of  suff.,  cf.  Gen. 
22^^  Ex.  3213  cS:c.  — 32.  i*?  NnpM]  perhaps  better  Nn[3M.  —  ':'P5"J'J  the  author 
explains  the  name  as  if  it  were  made  from  h-;2  3V  hi  Baal  contend.  Such  a 
compound  would  not  be  strange  (cf.  ^n^mO^  and  this  etymology  is  accepted, 
by  many  modern  scholars  ('?;'3  3n^  Baal  contends;  Kue.,  Dr.,  Baethgen). 
This  seems  to  be  excluded,  however,  by  the  fact  that  the  impf.  of  n->  is  yarib 
(twice  in  this  verse),  and  that  no  trace  of  an  alternative  yarub  exists.  We. 
{TBS.  p.  31),  with  greater  probability,  thinks  that  the  name  is  formed  fike 
"'Nn-,  X  in  meaning  equivalent  to  in^;2-i^,  '  Yahweh  founds.'  § 

33-35.  The  Midianites  invade  the  land ;  Gideon  summons  his 
countrymen  to  resist  them.  —  The  hordes  of  Midian  and  its  aUies 
cross  the  Jordan  and  encamp  in  the  Great  Plain.  The  spirit  of 
Yahweh  fills  Gideon ;  he  raises  his  clan,  Abiezer ;  then  his  tribe 
Manasseh ;  finally,  he  calls  out  the  tribes  north  of  the  plain, 
Asher,  Zebulun,  and  Naphtah.  Verse  ^^  belongs  to  the  first  narra- 
tive (v."'-^  J)  and  may  originally  have  followed  immediately  upon 
v.^'';  in  this  narrative  the  description  of  the  invasion  preceded 
the  appearance  of  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh  to  Gideon  (v."*"). 
Verse •"'^  may  then  be  from  the  hand  of  E,  who,  if  our  surmise  be 
correct,  ||  described  at  the  beginning  in  general  terms  the  annifel 
forays  of  Midian,  and  might  therefore  appropriately  relate  here 
particulars  of  their  last  invasion.  The  author  of  7-^^  must  have 
narrated  how  Gideon  called  out  at  least  his  own  tribe,  Manasseh, 
and,  if  we  may  argue  from  the  numbers,  probably  others ;  but  this 
account  would  naturally  stand  after  6^*^"^,  in  which  Gideon,  who 
seems  to  be  at  home,  seeks  the  assurance  of  a  sign  that  he  is 
truly  called  of  God  to  deliver  Israel.  Verse  ^  may,  therefore,  be 
derived  in  part  from  E,  but  has  been  attracted  from  its  original 
position  by  the  parallel  v.^*;  the  number  of  tribes  called  out  is 

*  In  Ez.  18I8  the  influence  of  the  common  legal  formula  for  the  death-penalty 
explains  the  unusual  expression  ;  cf.  ©^  al.  1L5«. 

t  Be.  misstates  the  usage;  -\p3  i];  is  found  chiefly  in  P. 

t  Cf.  also  oStt'n"'. 

^  So  also  Baudissin,  Studien,  u.  s.  w.,  i.  p.  108  n. ;  cf.  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  181I  n. 

(I  Above,  p.  178 ;  the  Amalekites  and  Bene-Qedem  are  probably  added  by  R,  as 
in  other  cases. 


VI.  33-35  197 

probably  exaggernterl  by  the  redactor.  Certainly,  in  its  present 
form,  6^  is  in  conflict  with  i^ ;  but  we  cannot  be  confident  that 
the  latter  verse  is  original.  On  the  other  hand,  v.^'  must  have 
been  preceded  in  E  by  an  account  of  the  calling  of  Gideon  to 
deHver  Israel,  which  has  been  omitted  by  Rje  as  superfluous 
after  6^'-'\ 

33.  Cf.  v.^-^  7^.  —  T/ie  Plain  of  Jezreel'\  so  called  from  the  city 
Jezreel,  the  modern  Zerin,  on  a  spur  projecting  from  the  Gilboa 
range.  The  Valley  of  Jezreel  (Jos.  \f^  Hos.  i*^)  is  in  the  vicinity 
of  that  city,  the  eastern  end  of  the  great  depression  which  divides 
the  highlands  of  Central  Palestine  from  Galilee ;  there  is  no 
evidence  that  the  name  was  in  Old  Testament  times  extended 
to  the  whole  plain.*  Until  quite  recent  times  such  inroads  of 
Bedawin  into  the  Great  Plain  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence.! 
—  34.  The  spirit  of  Yahweh  took  possession  of  Gideon']  lit.  put  him 
on,  as  a  garment,  clothed  itself  with  him ;  i  Chr.  1 7}^  2  Chr.  24-'*^ 
On  the  spirit  of  Yahweh,  see  comm.  on  3^^  —  He  sounded  the 
war  horn]  ^\  —  Abiezer  was  called  out]  v.^  7^--^  i  S.  14^  and 
often;  cf.  the  active,  4^'^-^^.  He  raised  his  own  clan;  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  in  J  the  three  hundred  men  with  whom  he 
puts  the  Bedawin  to  flight  and  pursues  them  over  the  Jordan  were 
merely  these  clansmen.  —  35.  The  critical  questions  which  this 
verse  raises  have  been  discussed  above.  —  Through  all  Manasseh] 
his  own  tribe.  West  Manasseh  only  can  be  meant.  —  Asher, 
Zedulun,  and  Naphtali]  see  on  i^'^  (p.  49  f.)  ;  here,  as  in  ch.  i 
and  4,  Issachar  is  passed  over.  The  two  halves  of  the  verse  are 
constructed  on  the  same  model ;  %  the  second  is  perhaps  an  exag- 
gerating addition.  In  7^  Naphtali,  Asher,  and  Manasseh  are 
called  out  after  the  success  of  Gideon's  stratagem,  to  pursue  the 
fleeing  foe.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  both  verses  are  original.  — 
They  went  up  to  meet  them]  may  be  from  E's  narrative  :  He  sent 
messengers  through  all  Manasseh,  and  they  went  up  to  meet  the 
Midianites.  —  Went  up,  in  the  miUtary  sense;  marched  against 
them.  In  the  present  connexion  the  words  form  an  awkward 
parallel  to  the  end  of  v.*. 

*  See  Furrer,  BL.  iii.  p.  302;  Bad.3,  p.  229;  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.,  p.  385. 
t  Thomson,  Land  and  BooJfi,  ii.  179  f.  %  Cf.  also  724a. 


1 98  JUDGES 

33.  The  plain  is  caUed  the  plain  of  Megiddo  (Zech.  12"  2  Chr.  3522 
Esdr.  i27);  the  Great  Plain  (i  Mace.  12*9,  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  viii.  2,  3  §  36;  b.j. 
iv.  I,  8  §  54);  the  great  plain  of  Legio  (Euseb.,  OS"^.  24654)  ;  the  great  plain 
of  Esdraelon  (Judith  i^) ;  see  also  above  on  i^^^-  (p.  43  ff.).  It  is  the  histori- 
cal battlefield  of  Palestine;  see  esp.  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geography,  p.  391-410. 
—  34.  'J11  r\^y>  nin'«  nm]  the  same  tropical  use  in  %  here  and  i  Chr.  la^^,  % 
here;  in  Syriac  freq.  of  demoniac  possession  (J^S.  1887).  —  P>;j^i]  Niph.  as 
pass,  to  Hiph.;    1822. 23;  cf.  pyxj  723- 24. 

36-40.  The  sign  of  the  fleece.  —  Gideon  asks  a  sign  that  God 
will  deliver  Israel  by  his  hand.  A  fleece  exposed  at  night  on  the 
threshing  floor  is  drenched  with  dew,  while  the  ground  around  is 
dry.  In  a  second  test  the  fleece  alone  is  dry,  while  the  ground  is 
wet  with  dew.  It  is  scarcely  to  be  supposed  that  after  the  won- 
derful manifestation  of  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh,  v.-^'^,  Gideon 
ventured  to  require  another  sign ;  the  premises  of  v.^^*^  are  not 
to  be  sought  in  v."--^  but  in  the  missing  parallel  account  of  the 
call  of  Gideon,  in  which  the  summons  to  be  the  champion  of 
Israel  probably  came,  not  through  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh,  but, 
as  commonly  in  E,  in  a  dream  or  night  vision.*  A  revelation  of 
this  kind  may  well  require  the  attestation  of  a  tangible  sign  such 
as  Gideon  here  proposes.  This  hypothesis  is  confirmed  by  the 
fact  that  in  v.^"^,  in  contrast  with  v.""^^  we  have  without  excep- 
tion EloJiim  {y.^  and  ha-EloJiim  {y^-  ^)  instead  of  Yahweh  and 
MaVak  Yahweh.  We  may,  therefore,  with  much  probability 
attribute  v.^^-^  to  E. 

36.  As  thou  sayest'^  v.^^ ;  the  words  now  refer  to  v.^*-^^  — 
37.  The  hard,  bare  surface  of  the  threshing  floor  and  its  exposure 
to  the  wind  made  it  the  most  suitable  place  for  such  an  experi- 
ment.! —  38.  The  test  resulted  as  he  had  proposed ;  in  the  morn- 
ing he  squeezed  the  fleece  and  drained  out  of  it  dew  enough  to 
fill  a  bowl  with  water.  —  39,  40.  To  make  sure  that  this  was  not 
due  to  some  natural  cause,  he  proposes  to  invert  the  experiment ; 
this  time  the  fleece  alone  shall  be  dry,  while  all  the  ground  is 
covered  with  dew.     On  the  following  morning  he  finds  it  so. 


*  Bu.,  Richt.  n.  Sam.,  p.  110  f» 

t  On  Syrian  threshing  floors,  see  Wetzstcin,  in  Zeitsckrift  fur  Ethnolo^ie,  1873; 
Rob.,  //A"^.  ii.  p.  8j ;    /J/A  1.  p.  65  f. 


VI.  36-VIT.  I  199 

36.  p^ciD  itt^  Dn]  Gen.  24*2- ^o^^*  i  S.  2328;  corresponding  constr.  of  ^n 
Ex.  817  ,  s.  19";  mj;  Ex.  92.  See  Dr^.  §  137  (a).  — 37.  n.J]  some  modern 
Arab,  dialects  gum  (Mohit,  p.  243),  or  guran  (Bar  Bahlul,  ed.  Duval,  41); 
Ethiopic,  see  Di.  Lex.  (perhaps  loan-word).  —  38.  -\t>]]  generally  derived 
from  "\ir;  Ko.  (i.  p.  328)  would  make  it  from  mr,  an  (imaginary)  softer  form 
of  "nx.  There  is  better  ground  for  thinking  that  the  root  is  "in.  —  Scon]  t^^. 
—  39.  1DN  nm  Sn]  Gen.  44!^  Ex.  32^2.  —  ayisn  ^n  nn^nNi]  on  ovan  see  on  15^ 
1 628.  The  clause  has  very  likely  been  borrowed  from  the  intercession  of 
Abraham,  Gen.  18^2^  jt  jg  superfluous  before  the  following,  let  me  try  it  only 
this  time  with  the  fleece^  and  the  sentence  gains  much  by  its  removal  (Bu.). 

VII.  1-8.  Gideon's  numbers  are  reduced  to  three  hundred 
men.  —  Gideon,  with  thirty-two  thousand  men,  encamps  near  the 
enemy,  at  Ain  Harod.  At  the  command  of  Yahweh,  who  will 
not  have  the  victory  attributed  to  human  might  and  prowess, 
Gideon  dismisses  all  who  fear  the  encounter.  Of  the  ten  thou- 
sand that  remain,  three  hundred  are  picked  out  by  a  singular  test ; 
these  are  furnished  with  the  provisions  and  the  horns  of  the  rest, 
who  are  dismissed  to  their  homes.  The  great  numbers  presup- 
pose the  raising  of  more  than  one  tribe  (6^),  and,  hke  that  verse, 
conflict  with  7^*-,  where  the  tribes  are  called  out  after  the  success 
of  Gideon's  attack,  to  pursue  the  fleeing  enemy  and  intercept 
their  retreat.  The  aim  of  the  whole  story  (v.^'^)  seems  to  be  to 
enforce  the  lesson  that  it  is  as  easy  for  Yahweh  to  deliver  by  few 
as  by  many  (i  S.  14^),  and  that  to  rebuke  man's  vaingloriousness 
he  chooses  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  put  to  shame  the 
1  strong  ( I  Cor,  i^'^ ;  Studer) .  The  verses  seem  to  be  from  E, 
and  belong  perhaps  to  a  secondary  stratum  of  that  work.*  Verse  ^ 
on  the  other  hand,  seems  to  be  the  continuation  of  6^,  and  to  be 
continued  in  f^\  —  1.  While  the  camp  of  Midian  was  north  of 
Gibeath  ha-Moreh']  the  text  has,  north  of  him,  frojn  Gibeath  ha- 
Morehy  in  the  plain,  which  cannot  be  right.  The  cause  of  the 
disorder  is  perhaps  contamination  from  v.'*.  In  our  ignorance 
of  the  topography,  the  restoration  is  merely  conjectural.  As  6^ 
locates  the  camp  of  the  Midianites  in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel,  Ain 
Harod  and  Gibeath  ha-Moreh  have  naturally  been  looked  for 
there.  Stanley  would  find  the  former  in  'Ain  Galiid,  a  very 
copious  spring  at  the  foot  of  Gilboa,  about  half  an  hour  east  of 

*  Bu,  ascribes  them  to  Rje;  see  above,  p.  176. 


200  JUDGES 

Jezreel  (Zer'in).*  Gibeath  ha-Moreh  is  then  supposed  to  be  the 
hill  now  called  Nebi  Dahi,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  valley, 
above  Solem  (Shunem).  The  positions  would  thus  be  very  much 
the  same  which  were  occupied  by  Saul  and  the  Philistines  before 
the  battle  of  Mt.  Gilboa  (i  S.  28^  cf  29^).  Theee  conjectures  rest, 
however,  on  a  most  insecure  foundation.  Ch.  6^  is  not  from  the 
same  source  as  f,  and  it  is  not  certain  that  the  author  of  the 
latter  (J)  laid  the  scene  of  action  in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel.  The 
name  Moreh  occurs  elsewhere  only  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Shechem  (Gen.  12^  Dt.  11^),  and,  in  the  absence  of  any  other 
clue,  it  is  the  least  hazardous  supposition  that  the  same  place  is 
meant  here.  The  other  indications  in  J  agree  very  well  with  this 
hypothesis.  In  this  narrative  Gideon  has  behind  him  his  clan, 
Abiezer,  whose  seats  are  about  Ophrah,  probably  not  very  far 
from  Shechem.f  In  his  pursuit  of  the  Midianites  he  crosses 
the  Jordan  not  far  from  Succoth,  by  the  fords  ordinarily  taken 
between  Shechem  and  Gilead  (Gen.  33^^-^^^;  see  below  on  8^), 
as  he  would  do  if  he  had  come  down  by  Wady  Far'ah ;  the  com- 
posite verse  7^  shows  that  the  direction  of  the  flight  and  pursuit 
was  differently  described  in  the  two  sources.  I 

1.  pynj  Nin  S^jjii]  if  Gideon  had  been  original  here  and  Jerubbaal  been 
introduced  by  a  subsequent  hand  (Kitt.),  we  should  have  had,  And  Gideon, 
that  is,  Jerubbaal.  — ^'\n  p;;]  cf.  the  gentile,  nin  2  S.  232^  (i  Chr.  ii^^). 
Graetz  conj.  for  inn  pp,  n^T  W  Ps.  83I1.  —  miDn  n;;2JD  ]idxd  -b  n>n  ]nD  njnDi 
pDyj]  Bu.  emends,  after  v.^b,  'ji  r^-wr^n  ny^jS  poxD  nnriD  iS  r\>r\.  It  seems  to 
me  more  probable  that  combination  with  v.^  is  responsible  for  the  disorder  of 
the  text,  and  I  should  prefer  to  restore  niiDn  ny^jS  jiiDXC  7\>7\,  omitting  iS  and 
pcpa.  Another  possibility  7\-\^-on  ny3J3  paXD  h  n>n.  —  'Ain  Galiid  was  early  sup- 
posed to  be  the  scene  of  David's  fight  with  Goliath  {Bin.  Hierosol.').^  Eshtori 
Parchi  (fol.  67*^)  calls  this  a  Moslem  blunder.  It  is  more  likely  that  the 
similarity  of  the  name  was  the  occasion  of  the  error,  than  that  a  mislocation  of 
the  conflict  with  the  Philistines  (under  the  influence  of  i  S.  28*)  gave  rise  to 
the  name.  'Ain  Galiid  is  often  identified  with  the  Tubania  of  the  Talmud 
and  the  crusading  historians;  Eshtori  Parchi  rightly  distinguishes  them,  and 
'Ain  Tuba'iin  is  in  fact  about  a  mile  NE.  of  'Ain  Galud  {SWP.  Memoirs^  ii. 


*  Sinai  and  Palestine,  1856,  p.  338.  So  Furrer,  BL.  iv.  p,  239 ;  Be.,  G.  A.  Smith, 
Hist.  Geography,  p.  397  f. ;  al.  Descriptions  of  'Ain  Galud  in  Rob.,  BR2.  ii.  p.  323  f. ; 
Gu6rin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  308  f. ;  SWF.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  79.     Cf.  also  03"^.  i.  p.  1288. 

t  See  above,  on  6II,  +  On  Tabor,  8I8,  see  there. 

$  See  Rob.,  BR^.  ii.  p.  324 ;  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.,  397  f.  n. 


VIT.   1-4  20I 

p.  79).  Conder  {SJVP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  81)  wouM  find  Ain  Ilarod  in  'Ain 
el-Gema  in,  much  nearer  Bcisan,  imagining  that  a  reminiscence  of  the  "  two 
troops  "  of  Israel  and  Midian  survives  in  the  name.  Ncbi  Dahi  is  now  often 
called  Little  Hermon.  —  n-\iDn  nyjj]  cf.  nniD  \hn  Gen.  12*^,  n-\iD  --jiSn  Dt.  12^; 
cf.  D-'jjiV'^  p'^N  Jud.  (f'^  (see  there). 

2-8.   Gideon  dismisses  all  but  three  hundred  picked  men.  — 

2.  Yahweh  will  not  give  the  enemy  into  the  power  of  (iideon's 
army.  —  Lest  Israel  vaunt  itself  against  me,  sayi?ig,  My  ow7i  hand 
wrought  deliverance  for  ffie~\  cf.  Is.  10^^'^^  Dt.  8""'^  ()'^^-,  and  with 
the  last  phrase  i  S.  25^*^-  ^^■^.  —  Gideon  shall  first  dismiss  all  who  are 
lacking  in  courage.  —  3.  Proclaim  to  the  people  :  Whoever  isfear- 
(j^  ful  a?id  in  ierror'\  cf.  Dt.  20^ ;  a  similar  measure  with  a  different 
motive.  The  second  verb  {harad)  perhaps  plays  upon  the  name 
Harod,  though  it  is  not  intimated  that  the  name  is  derived  from 
this  terror.^  The  following  words,  translated  in  RV.,  afid  depart '\ 
from  Mt.  Gilead,  present  great  difficulty.  The  meaning  of  the 
verb,  which  is  found  only  here,  is  unknown,  and  the  mention  of 
Mt.  Gilead  (east  of  the  Jordan,  5^^)  is  quite  irreconcilable  with  the 
topography  of  the  story.  The  emendation  of  Clericus,  Gilboa, 
would  bring  the  situation  into  accord  with  6'" ;  but  if  Gideon  was, 
as  is  supposed,  encamped  on  Mt.  Gilboa,  the  direction  to  return 
home  frofn  Mt.  Gilboa  is  entirely  superfluous.  \  Ewald  surmises 
that  the  words  are  an  old  proverbial  saying  in  East  Manasseh,  in 
the  present  context  meaning  no  more  than  "  slink  from  the  field  of 
battle."  §  But  the  use  of  such  an  expression  by  the  writer,  without 
explanation,  would  simply  invite  misunderstanding.  —  Twenty-two 
thousand  men  availed  themselves  of  this  permission;  ten  thou- 
sand remained  with  Gideon. — 4.  The  numbers  are  still  too 
great;  Yahweh  prescribes  a  new  test.  —  Take  them  down  to  the 
waters  J  afid  let  7?ie  separate  them  fo^  thee  there~\  remove  the  infe- 
rior elements  which  "are  not  fit  for  the  high  enterprise  ;  the  figure 
is  taken  from  the  refining  of  the  precious  metals  by  smelting  out 
the  baser'admixture'of  the  ore;  Is.  i^  Mai.  3^^  What  waters 
are  meant,  we  cannot  determine.  The  common  opinion  that  they 
are  the  Nahr  Galud,  the  stream  which  rises  in  'Ain  Galild   (see 


*  Ew.,  al.    -  t  Margin  :  go  round  about.  X  Dathe,  Stud. 

§  GVI.  ii.  p.  543;  so  Sta,,  GVI.  i.  p.  150;  Bu.,  Ric/d.  u.  Sam.,  p.  112  n. 


202  JUDGES 

on  v^),  and,  fed  by  other  springs,  flows  past  Beisan  to  the  Jordan, 
labours  under  all  the  uncertainties  and  difficulties  which  beset 
Stanley's  hypothesis.  Yahweh  will  there  tell  him  who  shall  go 
with  him  and  who  not.  —  5.  Those  who  throw  themselves  flat  on 
the  ground,  wilih  their  faces  to  the  water,  and  lap  it  up  with  their 
tongues  hke  dogs,  are  to  be  set  by  themselves,  and  those  who 
kneel  down  to  drink  (from  their  hands),  by  themselves.  —  6.  Tlie 
number  of  those  who  lapped  with  their  hands  to  their  mouths 
amounted  to  three  hundred  men^  the  words,  with  their  ha?ids  to 
their  mouths,  are  as  (§  shows,  a  glojs,  and  in  this  place  an  erro- 
neous gloss ;  to  lap  wjth  the  tongue,  and  to  raise  water  to  the 
mouth  with  the  hand,  are  precisely  the  two  different  ways  of 
drinking  which  are  here  distinguished.  Perhaps  the  words  were 
meant  to  stand  at  the  end  of  v.'^,  where  they  would  be  a  correct 
explanation ;  see  note.  The  contradiction  at  this  point  between 
v.^  and  v.^  has,  involved  the  whole  interpretation  in  obscurity. 
Clericys  imagines  the  three  hundred  drinking  standing  :  *  intelli- 
guntur  qui  manu  aquam  hauserant,  eamque  e  manu  stantes  bibe- 
bant,  nequaquam  inflexis  genibus ;  they  were  the  hardy  warriors 
who  did  not  yield  to  their  thirst,!  or  were  too  eager  to  be  at  the 
enemy  to  stop  even  to  drink.  Josephus,  on  the  contrary,  thinks 
that  they  were  the  greatest  cowards  in  the  army,  who  in  the 
presence  of  the  foe  were  afraid  to  drink  in  the  usual  manner.  \ 
The  miraculous  character  of  the  deliverance  is  thus  heightened. 
The  interpretations  are  equally  far-fetched ;  if  any  significance  is 
to  be  attached  to  the  way  in  which  the  three  hundred  drink,  we 
should  find  it  in  the  comparison  to  dogs  (v.^) ;  they  were  the 
rude,  fierce  men ;  corripare  the  liame  Caleb.  §  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  whether  the  character  of  the  three  hundred  is  in  the 
writer's  mind  at  all.  —  7.  Yahweh  will  deliver  Israel  by  means  of 
the  three  hundred ;  all  the  rest  of  the  people  shall  go  to  their 
homes.  —  8.  Those  who  are  sent  home  leave  their  provisions  and 
their  horns  with  Gideon,  who  is  thus  enabled  to  furnish  each  of 


•  Cf.  Be.,  Ke.,  Cass. ;  against  this  impossible  tjieory  see  Stud. 
t  Or  who  disregarded  convenience  ;  cf.  Aug. 
X  Antt.  V.  6,  3  §  217 ;  Thdt. ;  cf.  Procop. 

\  In  the  number  300  (Greek  t)  the  Fathers  saw  an  allegory  of  the  cross;  see 
Aug.,  quaest.  37. 


VII.  4-8  203 

his  three  hundred  men  with  a  horn.  The  verse  is  clearly  written 
with  reference  to  v.^*^"",  to  explain  how  Gideon  came  to  have  so 
many  horns  at  his  disposal.  The  repeated  change  in  the  subjecr" 
of  the  verbs  is  harsh  and  the  text  is  in  at  least  one  place  at  fault. 
Perhaps  v.''  in  its  present  form  is  the  work  of  a  redactor,  who  is 
preparing  for  v.^^"-^ ;  see  note.  —  The  camp  of  Midian  was  below 
hi7?i  in  the  valley']  corresponds  to  v.\  and  is  E's  introduction  to 
the  surprise  of  the  Midianite  camp  in  v.^*^". 

2.  TiPD  .  .  .  3i]  p  comparative  with  infinitive,  Gen.  4I8  27I  29^'*  Dt.  28^^ 
I  K.  864,  Roorda,  §485.  —  ^y  nxonn]  Is.  lo^^,  glory  over.  —  "h  ny>a'in  ^t'] 
I  S.  2526-33  cf.  Is.  59I6  635  Ps.  44*  98I;  S  y^irin  iqI*.  — 3.  nySjn  nna  •>£ix>i]  in 
rendering  depart,  set  forth  quickly^  &c.,  the  versions  ((S3L5)  seem  to  have 
been  guided  only  by  the  context  and  the  preposition;  depart  early  (AV.), 
sc.  in  the  morning,  follows  Ra.,  Ki.,  RLbG.,  Drus.,  al.  in  connecting  the  word 
with  Aram,  n^ds  'morning';  make  a  circuit  (Abulw.,  Tanch.,  Ges.,  Stud., 
Be.,  Cass,,  al.;  cf.  Ki.  Lex.),  connects  it  with  Heb.  nniDX  'fillet'*  {encircling 
the  head),  cf.  Ez.  f-  ^o.    Others  compare  Arab.  Jl>o  in  the  sense  '  run  quickly,' 

or  '  spring,  bound ';  so  SS.  The  context  would  make  the  general  meaning  of 
the  verb  sufficiently  clear  if  the  following  words  n^jVjn  inD  were  intelligible  in 
this  place.  JDMich.  conj.  "Srvq^  flee  quickly  to  Mt.  Gilead;  but  this  is  both 
intrinsically  improbable  and  in  direct  conflict  with  v.^-  8,  Cler.  proposed  nno 
jji^jn,  from  Mt.  Gilboa,  which  is  adopted  by  Hitz.,  Be.,  Graetz,  Ke.,  Doom., 
Reuss,  al. ;  but  Dathe  and  Stud,  rightly  observe  that  the  words  are  then  mean- 
ingless. Ewald's  old  Manassite  saying,  in  which  Gilead  is  used  proverbially  for 
tha  battlefield^  is  without  the  slightest  foundation  or  plausibility.  Cass,  elabo- 
rates a  somewhat  similar  theory.  Stud.'s  explanation  is,  that,  as  the  Midianites 
in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel  lay  between  the  men  of  the  northern  tribes  (63^)  and 
their  homes,  they  are  bidden  to  cross  the  Jordan,  and  by  a  circuit  through 
Mt.  Gilead  go  around  the  enemy.  But  if  this  was  the  author's  meaning  he 
could  not  have  expressed  himself  more  obscurely.  If  a  conjecture  may  be 
ventured  in  this  state  of  the  text,  I  would  suggest,  jynj  Donx^i  Gideon  put  them 
to  the  test;  for  the  verb  cf.  v.^.f  —  5.  d^dh  p  uitt'Vj  pS^  itt'N  Sd]  the  vb.  ppS 
(onomatopoetic)  l  K.  211^  {bis)  2238;  ^f.  inS  Nu.  22*  &c.;  (5^^  airh  rod 
v5aTos,  better  than  ^k  (O^^lm)^  —  -^^h  iniN  j^xn]  j>xn  of  persons,  Gen.  33!^  43* 
472 ;  cf.  of  things  Jud.  6^^  8'-^";  see  note  on  the  latter  verse,  n^*?  without  suffix, 
Ex.  26^  361*5  Zech.  I2i^'- 13. 14.  _'j}>  ;;-,3>  -h^n  Soi]  the  vb.  see  on  52^.  At  the  end 
^ALMN  (^cf.  s)  adds  /ierao'T'iJo'ets  avrbv  Kad'  avrbv,  ^'^  fxerao'T'ifiaeis  avrbv. 
The  words  may  have  been  accidentally  omitted  in  J§;    the  nature   of  the 


*  Originally  '  braid,  plait.' 

t  Cf.  RJes.,  who  regards  laxM  as  equivalent  to  rj-^SM  by  metathesis.     Graetz 
conj.  }nD'i  'break  through.' 


204  JUDGES 

attestation  makes  it  less  likely  that  they  were  added  by  ©,  cf.  il,S.  —  6.  dtij 
Dn>D  Sj<]  similarly  (gBNVO  (cf.  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  6,  3  §  217),  probably  6;  see 
Grabe,  Ep.  ad  Millium^  p.  14;  Field,  ad  loc.  An  explanation  of  \>\h  which 
is  in  contradiction  to  MwSi  v.^;  obviously  an  erroneous  gjoss.  In  its  place 
(gALM  \  p  have  the  correct  gloss  ev  t^  y\<x)<T(jri  avrCjv;  conflation  of  the  two 
in  O^^'^  S.  Perhaps  the  gloss  in  |^  was  meant  for  the  end  of  v.*^,  where  it 
would  be  right  in  fact  (Doom.);  hardly  genuine  at  the  end  of  v.^  (Bu.), 
against  which  the  change  of  number  seems  conclusive;  at  the  end  of  v. 5, 
whether  the  words  -^cxe  genuine  or  a  gloss,  we  should  expect  vs  Sn  no.  — 
8.  The  change  of  subject  in  inpM  is  abrupt  and  awkward;  on}y  less  so,  that 
in  rh's)  \^;  Dj?n  mx  is  incorrect.  For  the  latter,  the  emendation  nyn  mx  (or 
oyn  T<s  Jos.  q^-^^)  would  suffice  to  remove  the  grammatical  difficulty;  but  the 
statement  that  the  three  hundred  took  the  provisions  of  the  rest  of  the  people 
is  not  obviously  relevant.  Gideon  was  not  planning  a  long  campaign  and  had 
no  need  to  encumber  his  three  hundred  men  with  the  rations  of  ten  thousand. 
If  the  author  meant  to  explain  how  Gideon's  men  got  the  jars  of  v.^^ff.  ^s  well 
as  the  horns,  he  would  hardly  have  said  it  so  indirectly,  especially  as  the 
provisions  were  certainly  not  transported  in  earthen  jars.  If  we  were  sure 
that  such  was  his  intention,  we  should  without  hesitation  emend  opn  ni;,  with 
which  Dio  also  would  better  accord.  But  as  in  v.16-22  the  horns  come  from 
one  version  of  the  stratagem,  the  jars  from  the  other,  this  emendation  or 
interpretation  would  constrain  us  to  regard  v.^a  as  the  work  of  a  redactor 
displacing  the  original  beginning  of  the  verse,  in  which  the  name  of  Gideon 
probably  stood.  If  v.^^'^^  were  homogeneous,  v.^*  might  be  restored :  nx  npM 
DTiD  oyn  ms,  which  would  remove  all  formal  difficulties.  —  vShnS  K'-'n]  i  S.  13^ 
^^  2  S.  19^  I'^nxS  Jud.  20^;  cf.  ^^6p•ob  yj  g^^  &c.  The  phrase  is  a  survival 
from  the  nomadic  life;  the  plur.  refers  to  the  group  of  tents  belonging  to  the 
family  or  clan. 

9-15.  Gideon,  creeping  down  to  the  camp  by  night  to  recon- 
noitre, hears  a  Midianite  tell  an  ominous  dream.  —  The  verses 
belong  to  the  first  narrative  (J),  and  originally  followed  immedi- 
ately on  v.^  —  9.  Tka/  night~\  cf.  6^.  In  the  present  context,  the 
night  following  the  dismissal  of  the  greater  part  of  Gideon's  force 
(v.2-^)  ;  in  its  original  connexion,  the  night  after  he  encamped  by 
the  spring  of  Harod  (v.^) .  —  Up,  descend  on  the  camp]  attack  the 
enemy  at  once  ;  cf.  4^^  —  If  he  is  afraid  to  attack,  he  shall  go 
down  with  a  single  attendant  and  hear  the  talk  of  the  camp ;  he 
will  then  hesitate  no  longer.  Gideon  does  so.  — 10.  Thou  and 
Phurah,  thy  page]  lit.  doy ;  the  armour-bearer  or  attendant  of  a 
warrior  of  rank,  9^*  i  S.  14^-^  &c.  — 11.  To  the  outskirts  of  the 
ar?ned  meti  who  were  in  the  encampment]  cf.  to  the  outskirts  of 
the   caT?ip,  v.^^''-'.     The   precise   meaning   of  the  word   translated 


VIT.  9-T4  205 

armed  men  is  uncertain;  cf.  Ex.  13^''  Jos.  i^*  4^-.  It  is  natural  to 
imagine  that  in  such  a  raid  a  part  of  the  invaders,  better  armed 
and  perhaps  better  discipHned  than  the  rest,  lay  along  the  front  of 
the  camp  to  cover  it  from  attack ;  see  note.  — 12.  The  immense 
numbers  of  the  invaders ;  cf.  6^"*^  8^^.  The  verse  in  its  present 
form  cannot  belong  to  the  original  narrative ;  it  has  either  been 
amplified  and  exaggerated  by  an  editor,  or  is  wholly  his  work, 
combining  motives  borrowed  from  6^'^.  ^—  Like  the  sand  on  the  sea 
sho?'e~\  a  common  simile  for  countless  numbers;  Jos.  11'*  i  S.  13'' 
2  S.  17^^  It  is  probably  meant,  not  of  the  camels,  but  of  the 
enemy  themselves ;  but  it  hangs  very  loosely  at  the  end  of  the 
verse  and  may  be  an  addition  by  a  still  later  hand.  — 13.  Just 
as  Gideon  came  within  hearing,  a  Midianite  was  telling  his  com- 
rade a  dream.  —  A  cake  of  barley  d?'ead~\  the  specific  meaning  of 
the  word  rendered  from  the  context,  cake  or  ioaf,  is  not  known. 
We  are  probably  to  imagine  a  round,  flat,  hard-baked  ash-cake, 
trundling  through  the  camp  till  it  strikes  the  tent  and  turns  it 
upside  down.  The  tent  is  the  natural  symbol  of  the  nomad ;  the 
barley  cake  might  very  well  represent  the  peasant.  As  barley  is 
an  inferior  grain,  many  interpreters  find  in  the  words  a  scornful 
allusion  to  the  poverty  of  the  Israelite  peasantry,  who  were 
reduced  to  eating  what  is  fit  food  only  for  animals.  It  is  doubt- 
ful, however,  whether  this  is  intended ;  there  seems  to  have  been 
a  particular  kind  of  barley  ash-cake  or  griddle-bread  (Ez.  4^-), 
and  selul  may  be  the  specific  name  for  a  cake  of  peculiar  shape 
or  solidity,  which  was  made  of  barley  meal.  —  //  came  to  the  tent~\ 
not  the  tent  of  the  head  chief,*  but  that  of  the  narrator,  or,  per- 
haps better,  in  view  of  the  symbolical  character  of  the  dream,  to 
a  tent.  The  definite  article  is  idiomatically  used  in  Hebrew  when 
an  object  is  made  definite  in  the  imagination  of  the  speaker  by 
what  is  done  with  or  to  it  in  the  story.  —  And  struck  it,  and  it  fell, 
atid  turned  it  upside  down,  and  the  tent  lay  prostrate]  the  words 
printed  in  Roman  letters  are  redundant ;  comparison  with  <J5,  and, 
in  the  latter  instance,  the  false  tense  in  JIj  show  that  they  are 
glosses. — 14.  His  comrade  interprets  the  portent.  —  This  is  noth- 
ing else  than  the  men  of  Israel'^  the  text  has,  the  sword  of  Gideon 

*  Fl.  Jos.,  Be.,  al. 


2o6  JUDGES 

ben  Joashy  the  ma?i  of  Israel ;  but  this  is  a  later  and  erroneous 
interpretation.  The  barley  bread  naturally  represents  the  peas- 
antry as  a  class,  not  an  individual  among  them ;  the  Hebrew- 
phrase  translated  the  men  of  Israel  is  uniformly  collective ;  and 
it  is  hardly  likely  that  the  first  narrator  made  his  Midianites  know 
by  name  the  deliverer  whom  Yahweh  had  just  called  from  the 
flail.  The  words,  the  sword  of,  may  be  original,  but  more  prob- 
ably they  come  from  v.^.  —  God  has  given  into  his  hand  Midian 
and  all  the  camp]  God,  not  Yahweh^  is  proper  in  the  mouth  of  a 
foreigner ;  cf.  3^.  Amplification  by  the  editor  may  be  suspected 
here  also.  Midian  and  all  the  camp  is  redundant,  and,  of  the  two, 
the  order  of  the  sentence  indicates  that  the  latter  is  original ;  it 
also  corresponds  to  the  description  of  the  portent  (v.^^) .  Midian 
and  is  perhaps  from  the  same  hand  which  over-filled  the  first  half 
of  the  verse  by  the  insertion  of  Gideon's  name.  — 15.  Gideon 
accepts  the  omen,  returns  to  his  own  camp,  and  prepares  for  an 
immediate  attack.  —  Prostrated  himself]  in  homage  to  the  deity 
who  gave  the  omen.  —  Up  /  for  Yahweh  has  given  into  your  hand 
the  camp  of  Midian. 

9.  njnDO  nn]  v."  cf.  i  S.  26"  (hdhSd::).  — 11.  nn^  njprnn]  2  S.  2}  Zech.  S^-i^, 
—  D-'C'pnn  nxp  Sn]  •i'  (so  uniformly;  see  Norzi  and  Lonzano  on  Ex.  13^^).  In 
Jos.  i^^  4I2,  men  in  fighting  order;  syn.  D^xiSn  (Jos.  41^  Nu.  3230-32  Dt.  3I8). 
— 12.  pC3?3  D-iSiDj]  the  verb  was  perhaps  suggested  by  the  comparison  to 
locusts,  had  lighted  (and  lay)  in  the  plain;  it  is  scarcely  to  be  connected  with 
the  sense,  *  fall  upon,  attack '  (c.  3  pers.),  Jos.  i  \^  &c.  (Be.,  SS.,  al).  —  V>;u']  see 
on  617;  cf.  Giesebrecht,  ZATW.  i.  p.  280  n.  — 13.  ^i''X  t]  Qere  S>Ss,  perhaps 
meaning  to  hint  a  connexion  with  n'^s,  cf.  'A.  From  the  context,  a  round 
(disk-shaped)  cake  or  loaf;  (J5  ^aT'S  2  KoWvpa  'A  ijKpvcpias  IL  subcinericius 
panis.  cn^  is  possibly  a  gloss  to  the  rare  word.  The  conjecture  of  G.  Hoff- 
mann is  ingenious,  but  improbable :  a  clash  of  fighting  about  the  gates  went 
circling  about  the  camp  (□"'-^vc'  DnS  S^Sx,  cf.  58).*  Barley  was  a  grain  of  inferior 
value;  if  2  K.  7I  may  be  taken  as  an  average  estimate,  worth  about  half  as 
much  as  wheat.  It  was  used  for  bread,  as  in  the  massot  of  the  Feast  of 
Unleavened  Bread,  cf.  further  2  K.  4^2  Ez.  4I2  John  69- 13,  also  Ru.  2I'  &c.; 
and  as  provender  for  (the  king's)  horses,  i  K.  58  (EV.  428),  cf.  Pesach.,  3*> 
inf.  In  early  times  its  use  for  food  was  well-nigh  universal;  then  as  a  cheaper 
and  coarser  diet  it  was  chiefly  consumed  by  the  poorer  classes;  finally  it 
became  almost  exclusively  provender  for  animals.  See  PHn.,  n.  h.,  xviii.  72, 
antiquissimum  in  cihis  hordeum.  —  74,  panem  ex  hordeo  antiquis  usitatum  vita 

*QPB. 


VII.  14-15  20/ 

damnavit,  quadripedumque  fere  cibus  est.  FI.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  6,  4  §  219  (on 
the  present  passage),  /xafaz/  ihbKti  Kpidivrjv  vw  evreXeia^  dvOpibirois  A^piorov. 
There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  in  old  Israel  the  use  of  barley  bread  was 
as  restricted  as  it  became  in  later,  not  to  say  in  modern,  times.  —  iDnnD 
njnDa]  cf.  Gen.  3'^*,  the  flaming  sword  that  turned  in  every  direction;  it 
seemed  to  be  everywhere.     Others,  simply  turning  over  and  over,  or  rolling 

like  a  wheel,  which  seems  less  in  accordance  with  the  usage  of  the  verb. 

Shnh  n>']  many  Greek  MSS.  add,  of  Midian.  —  Sc^i]  >  ©I'vlmo  gub  aster,  s. 

—  SriNH  Sfjji]  the  false  tense  betrays  the  gloss;  the  words  are  wanting  in 
<gpv  29.  71.  75. 121. _  14.  Q^  ,pL,3  pj^f  pj,.-j  Gen.  47I8  (?  J);  with  verb  (pf.) 
Am.  33'*.  DNT,  the  content  of  the  preceding  relation,  what  passed  in  the 
dream;  fern.  pron.  where  in  Greek  or  Latin  we  should  have  the  neuter. — 
Ssna'"'  tt'nv]  is  grammatically  definite,  and  in  usage  regularly  collective,  the 
(body  of)  Israelite  vien  {die  israelitische  Mannschaft') ,  Jud.  "f-^  S'^^  ^55  20^0; 
so  all  similar  phrases,  e.g.  nnisN  C'^n  72*  8^  12I,  jid-'JD  tJ'>N  20^1,  min*'  b'-'N  15W 
I  S.  154  2  S.  1917.42.43.44  2o4  2  K.  232  &c.  The  apparent  exceptions  are  a'^N 
nrtytt'^  Jud.  iqI,  pn^ja  ty^N  i  S.  4I2;  *  cf.  Nu.  258.  With  the  name  of  Gideon 
falls  also  the  word  3->n;  cf.  v.2'?.  — 15.  -ijsDd]  in  this  sense  only  here,  though 
n£3D  *  recount,  relate,'  is  common;   cf.  Engl.  '  tale  '  =  '  number '  and  '  narrative.' 

—  n^r  riNi]  interpretation  (so  only  here;  syn.  pi.-is  and  —  late  —  ~^t't)\  lit. 
the  breaking  of  it,  a  trope  similar  to  the  *  solution  '  of  an  enigma,  &c. 

16-22.  Gideon's  stratagem ;  panic  and  flight  of  the  Midian- 
ites.  —  The  narration  is  redundant  and  confused.  To  carry  a 
lighted  torch  concealed  in  an  earthen  jar  would  give  full  occu- 
pation to  both  hands;  how  Gideon's  men  managed  the  horns 
besides  does  not  appear.!  Kuenen  thinks  that  the  torches  and 
jars  may  have  been  added  by  the  editor.  |  Budde  recognizes  in 
them  an  original  and  characteristic  feature  of  the  story;  in  his 
opinion  it  is  rather  the  horns,  "  which  come  from  Jericho,"  that 
the  editor  has  brought  in.  The  following  narrative,  however, 
gives  plain  evidence,  not  of  editorial  amplification,  but  of  the 
attempt  to  combine  two  accounts.  This  is  particularly  clear  at 
the  beginning  and  end  of  the  passage  (v.'^  v.-^---).  The  doubling 
is  such  as  the  mere  introduction  of  the  horns  would  not  produce ; 
and  further,  as  Kuenen  rightly  saw,  the  blowing  of  the  horns  now 
constitutes  the  principal  strand  of  the  narrative.     We  have  found 

*  See  We.,  Klost.,  ad  loc.  The  exx.  in  Ew.  ^  290  a  3,  to  which  Dr.,  TBS.  p.  38, 
refers,  are  inconclusive^ 

t  Studer's  explanation  is  not  satisfactory. 

+  Hco^.  i.  p.  347. 


208  JUDGES 

above  two  accounts  of  the  call  of  Gideon  and  of  the  raising  of 
his  countrymen  against  Midian.  In  the  sequel  of  the  story,  not 
only  7^^'  but  S^^-  represents  the  enemy  as  in  full  flight.*  The 
source  from  which  the  latter  is  derived  also  presumably  told  how 
they  were  put  to  flight ;'  and  as  from  8"*^-  it  does  not  appear  that 
they  had  previously  sustained  an  actual  attack,  it  may  be  inferred 
that  they  had  been  alarmed  by  a  stratagem  such  as  is  described 
in  7^^^^  These  facts  seem  to  commend  the  hypothesis  that  the 
trumpets  are  derived  from  one  source,  the  jars  and  torches  from 
the  other.  The  former  may  with  considerable  probability  be 
ascribed  to  E ;  the  latter  will  then  come  from  J.  If.  the  latter, 
as  there  is  some  reason  to  believe,t  laid  the  scene  of  action,  not 
in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel,  but  in  the  vicinity  of  Ophrah,  the  execu- 
tion of  this  original  manoeuvre  is  more  easily  conceivable;  the 
jars  could  be  fetched  by  Gideon's  clansmen  from  their  homes  for 
this  purpose.  The  redactor  has  united  the  two  diverse  accounts 
as  best  he  could,  binding  them  together  with  clauses  borrowed 
from  one  or  the  other  of  his  sources.  That  in  which  the  trumpets 
play  the  leading  part,  being  the  more  detailed,  furnished  the  warp 
of  his  fabric. 

To  E  may  be  ascribed  :  v.i^a,  ha  [and  said  to  them]  i^-  I8a,  ha.  I9a,  ha.  20aa.  22a 
(from  nini  □ij'ii)  22b  (^j^  part)  ^Sflf-.  J's  narrative,  which  is  less  completely 
preserved,  probably  ran  somewhat  as  follows :  [He  gave  them,  or,  they  took] 
empty  jars,  and  torches  in  the  jars  (v.^^^^) ;  and  he  said  to  them,  See  from 
me  what  to  do,  and  do  likewise  (v.^''*).  [They  surrounded  the  camp;  Gideon 
gave  the  signal  by  breaking  his  jar  (?  v.i^b^)] ;  %  and  they  broke  the  jars  and 
grasped  the  torches  (?  in  their  left  hands,  and  in  their  right  their  swords.^) 
and  cried.  For  Yahweh  and  Gideon !  (v.^oa^-  ^*).  And  they  stood  as  they  were 
around  the  camp,  and  all  the  camp  ran  away.  And  they  fled  (v.^i)  to  .  .  . 
(v.2-  in  part) .  § 

16.  Gideon  divided  his  three  hundred  men  into  three  bodies'] 
the  object  of  this  division  was  to  make  a  simultaneous  demonstra- 
tion from  different  sides  of  the  encampment ;  the  disposition  is 
not  further  detailed.  —  And  furnished  them  all  with  horns,  and 
empty  jars,  and  torches  inside  the  jars]  the  horns  probably  belong 


*  Note  Pini,  V.4-  5 ;  Kue.  t  See  above,  p.  200.  J  Recast  by  Rje. 

\  With  this  attempt  at  an  analysis,  cf.  Be.,  p.  xxii,  and  Winckler,  Altorientalische 
J-orschuni^en,  p.  50  f. 


VII.  16-20 


209 


to  one  version  of  the  story  (E),  the  jars  and  torches  to  the  other 
(J)  ;  see  above.  The  horns,  and  perhaps  the  jars  also,  are  pro- 
vided for  in  v.®**  (R)  ;  see  comm.  there  and  note  (p.  203  f.).  The 
jars  were  used  to  conceal  the  light  of  the  torches  till  the  Israelites 
had  got  into  position  around  the  camp  ;  *  these  were  broken  with 
a  startling  crash  which  would  sound  to  the  terrified  Midianites 
like  the  clash  of  arms.  — 17,  18.  Gideon  instructs  his  men. — 
You  shall  see  from  me  and  do  likewise^  an  unusual  breviloquence  ; 
cf.  9"*^.  In  v.*'  the  same  thing  is  repeated  in  common  phrase,  and 
as  I  do,  so  shall  you  do.  These  words  are  not  improbably  edito- 
rial; beside  the  detailed  instructions  in  the  following  verse  they 
are  superfluous,  and  v.^^^  would  connect  much  better  with  the 
preceding  if  they  wea-e  away  :  When  I  reach  the  outskirts  of  the 
ca?np,  18  and  blow  a  blast  on  the  horn,  .  .  .  then  you  also  shall 
bloiv,  d^c7\  the  Midianites,  hearing  the  charge  sounded  on  different 
sides  of  the  camp,  would  be  bewildered  by  the  expectation  of  a 
simultaneous  attack  from  several  quarters.  —  And  say,  For  Yah- 
weh  and  Gideo7i\  introduced  by  the  editor  from  the  other  nar- 
rative (v.^")  ;  observe  the  colourless,  say,  for  shout. 

19.  The  beginning  of  the  middle  watcJi]  the  night  was  divided 
into  three  watches ;  the  first  watch,  the  middle  watch,  and  the 
morning  watch  (i  S.  11^^).  The  division  into  four  watches 
(Matt.  14^  Mk.  6''^)  was  adopted  from  the  Romans;  see  note. — 
They  had  but  Just  posted  the  guards']  Jer.  51^^  cf.  6^\  More 
precise  note  of  time;  it  was  immediately  after  the  turn  of  the 
watch,  not  far  from  eleven  o'clock.  It  is  not  intimated  that  this 
was  a  rehef  guard ;  the  Midianites  may  not  have  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  keep  guard  during  the  evening.  In  v.^^-  Gideon  was  able 
unobserved  to  approach  near  enough  to  the  camp  to  hear  their 
talk.f  —  And  blew  the  trumpets,  and  smashed  the  jars  which  they 
had  in  their  hands']  the  juxtaposition  of  the  two  clauses  corre- 
sponds- to  v.^ ;  the  second  is  probably  derived  in  substance  from 
J  (Gideon  smashed  the  jar  he  held ;  cf.  v.^^"^)  ;  but  it  has  been 
thoroughly  recast  by  the  redactor ;  observe  the  construction,  on 
which  see  note.  —  20.    The  three  companies]  as  soon  as  the  signal 


*  See  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians^ ,  i860,  p.  120. 

t  These  verses,  however,  are  probably  not  from  the  §aTOe  source  as  v.l9. 
P 


2IO  JUDGES 

was  given,  the  other  two  divisions  joined  their  blasts  to  those  of 
Gideon's  own  command.  —  And  shattered  the  jars']  the  other 
strand  of  the  narrative  (J).  —  And  held  on  to  the  torches]  the 
text  adds,  with  their  left  hands,  and  with  their  right,  the  horns  to 
blow.  This  is  obviously  harmonistic ;  it  is  a  question,  however, 
whether  the  editor  added  it  all  of  his  own  conception,  or  whether 
he  only  altered  an  older  text.  If,  for  the  horns  to  blow,  we  should 
substitute  their  swords,  the  words  might  be  thought  to  be  an 
original  part  of  the  narrative.*  But  the  swords  play  no  part  in 
the  rout  of  the  Midianites,  as  the  author  explicitly  tells  us  (v.-\  J) ; 
the  words  are  therefore  better  attributed  wholly  to  the  redactor. 
—  And  cried.  For  Yahweh  and  Gideon  /~\  this  seems  to  be  the 
original  form  of  the  war  cry  (cf.  v.^^).t  The  word  Sword/  is 
probably  a  gloss ;  cf.  v.^''.  The  cause  of  IsraeHtes  against  foreign 
foes  is  Yahweh's  cause ;  and  he  who  smites  for  Gideon,  smites  for 
Yahweh  (see  introduction  to  ch.  5;  esp.  p.  134).  It  is  a  his- 
torical misapprehension,  however,  to  describe  the  conflict  with 
the  Canaanites  (ch.  4.  5)  or  Midianites  (ch.  6-8)  as  a  religious 
war ;  and  especially  to  compare  it  with  the  wars  of  Islam.  % 

16.  D'^tt'sn  nti'Sti']  technical  term  for  divisions  of  a  military  force;  esp. 
columns  or  parties  formed  to  execute  a  concerted  attack  or  stratagem;  g^^- 
I  S.  iii^  I'i^''^-  Job  i".  It  is  a  second  accusative  after  ^H""!;  cf.  i  S.  ii^i 
(Dtt'"'i),  Ges.25  §  117,  5  c.  —  nnoit:']  see  on  32^.  —  o^pn  d-iid]  no  is  a  vessel  used 
to  dxa.vf  and  carry  water,  Gen.  24^*^-  I  K.  18^*  Eccl,  12^;  to  keep  meal  in, 
I  K.  17I2-I6.  So  in  MH.,  for  honey,  oil,  barley,  dates;  see  Levy,  NHWb.  ii. 
p.  293  f.  In  all  cases  where  we  can  form  a  judgment,  a  vessel  of  some  size. 
D-'pn  2  K.43  (o'''^^)-  —  D'-naS]  torches,  not  lamps  (nj),  cf.  15^-;  see  the  descrip- 
tion in  Aruch,  s.v.;  Levy,  ii.  p.  517.  Thomson's  illustration  (^Land  and 
Book^,  ii.  p.  182):  "I  have  often  seen  the  small  oil  lamps  of  the  natives 
carried  in  a  pitcher  or  earthen  vessel  at  night,"  is  not  at  all  in  point. — 
17.  iti'^n  pi  iNnn  ijdd]  learn  your  part  from  me  by  observing  what  I  do.  p 
refers  to  the  unexpressed  object  of  iNnn;  cf.  9*^.  —  'Ji  S3  idjn  nir^]  cf.  g^^ 
Gen.  50*^  Jos.  2I8  2  S.  17^  &c.  — 18.  njnDD  Vd  ni3'«jD]  ni30D  adverbial  accu- 
sative; cf.  S  2"«aD  v.21.  Of  the  instances  of  the  plur.  a  considerable  part  are  in 
passages  generally  ascribed  to  E;  see  Gen.  35''  41*^  Ex.  7-^  Nu.  ii24. 31.32  22* 
Jud.  2^2.  —  pynjSi  nin""^]  (gPVMNo  praem.  pofKpala;  so  also  S*^  and  some  codd. 
of  |t?  (De  Rossi):  Conformation  to  v.^O;  see  note  there.  — 19.  r\s  hndi] 
read  tt-'Nn  nn^o^',  the  article  accidentally  dropped  after  the  final  n.  —  t'H-\ 
njio^nn  niotyNn]  cf.  Lam.  2^^  nnntt'N  tniS  Kx.  14^3  j  S.  ii^^  ipbn  n-i:Dtt'N_ 

♦  Bu.,  Winckler.  f  Bu.  |  Baethgen.  Beitriige,  p.  200  f. 


VII.    20-22  2  I  I 

The  middle  ivatch  implies  that  the  night  was  divided  into  three,  not  four, 
parts.  On  this  subject  see  Berachoth,  3^.  —  i^^pn  apn  -[n]  -[n  restrictive;  there 
had  been  no  time  for  anj-thing  moVe ;  cf.  Gen.  27^'^  3|->3;>  nv  nx"-  tx,  Jacob  had 
barely  gon«  out;  see  also  Jud.  3^.  The  words  are  understood  by  not  a  few 
oilier  interpreters  to  refer  to  Gideon  and  his  men :  they  had  barely  roused 
the  guards  {i.e.  had  reached  the  furthest  outposts  of  the  camp),  when  they 
sounded;  so  (J^i^ai-  It^,  Lfh.,  Cler.  (D>pn  in  this  sense,  Gen.  49^  Nu.  24^), — 
'ji  Dn>n  visji]  rcj  Kal,  Jer.  2228 1  (>(g);  Pi.  Jer.  48^2  Ps.  2^  &c.  The  inf. 
absol.  continuing  a  finite  tens*,  i  S.  2^8  Gen.  41*^,  Roorda,  §  385;  Ew.  §  351  r; 
Ges.25  §  113,  4  <7.  The  construction  is  more  common  and  freer  in  the  later 
Hterature.  —  20.  Dni)'?^  .  .  .  ipiTn'>i]  in  the  original  context  probably,  held  on 
to,  kept,  as  in  V.8;  in  the  sense  of  the  editor  who  added  the  following  clause, 
grasped.  Notice  further  the  change  of  construction;  in  the  first  clause  3,  in 
the  second  the  ace;  >"ipr'^  also  comes  in  tardily  after  all  the  blowing  already 
done  (v.^9- 20ay  —  pynjSi  ntni"^  D-\n]  not  equivalent  to  a  genitive,  gladius 
Domini  et  Gedeonis  (IL,  Lth.,  EV.,  Drus.,  Cler.,  Cass.,  Kitt.,  al.).  3-in  is 
rather  an  exclamatory  sentence  of  one  member  (Paul,  Principien,  p.  104), 
probably  psychological .  predicate  (observe  the  indetermination) ;  cf.  Ges.^^ 
§  I47»  3- 

21.  And  they  stood  where  they  were"]  lit.  each  ?nati  in  his  place; 
cf.  I  S.  14^.  They  did  not  rush  in,  sword  in  hand,  but  remained 
as  they  were,  waving  their  flaring  torches  and  shouting  their  war- 
cry.  The  rest  of  the  verse  presfents  considerable  difficulty,  though 
the  meaning  is  plain  enough.  The  first  verb,  a/l  the  ca?np  ran, 
is  not  usual  in  sense  '  run  away,  flee,'  and  if  so  interpreted  is  an 
unnecessary  anticipation  of  the  following,  they  fled.  The  render- 
ings, took  to  their  heels,  or  ran  together,  are  not  sustained  by  usage. 
Perhaps,  by  a  slight  change  in  the  Hebrew,  the  text  should  be 
emended,  all  the  camp  awoke,  and  they  set  up  a  wild  cjy  and 
fled.  The  verb  then  adds  an  effective  touch  to  the  description 
of  the  night  alarm.  —  22.  And  they  bleiv  the  three  hundred  horns'] 
repeated  by  R,  to  give  the  following  description  of  the  panic  in  the 
camp  the  same  connexion  which  it  originally  had  in  E  (after 
the  first  words  of  v.^).' — Imagining  that  the  IsraeHtes  had  taken 
the  camp  by  surprise,  and  in  the  madness  of  fear  each  thinking 
his  comrade  a  foeman,  they  turned  their  swords  against  each 
other,  and  the  panic  became  complete.  —  Yahiueh  set  each  j?ian's 
sword  against  his  comrade]  cf.  i  S.  14'"'^  2  K.  3^  2  Chr.  20^. 
—  The  direction  of  the  flight  is  not  made  clearer  by  the  mul- 
tiplication of  names  in  v.-'^,  in  which  the  fusion  of  two  sources 


212  JUDGES 

is  to  be  recognized.  The  sites  of  the  places  named  are  not 
certainly  known.  From  v.^^  it  appears  that  E  represented  the 
Midianites  as  turning  southward  through  the  Jordan  valley,  in 
which  they  are  intercepted  by  the  Ephraimites.  In  J,  if  our  sur- 
mise about  the  scene  of  the  action  be  correct,  they  would  naturally 
flee  eastward  by  the  main  route  from  Shechem  to  the  other  side 
of  the  Jordan,  which  descends  into  the  great  Wady  Farah. 
From  the  difference  of  construction  in  Hebrew,  it  is  probable 
that  Sererah  is  not  derived  from  the  same  source  as  Beth-shiitah. 

21.  1D1J11  ij;n"'i  njncn  Sd  V"*^"*]  the  verbs  must  all  have  the  same  subject;  viz., 
the  Midianites  (63L,  AV.,  Cler.,  ah).  The  Kethib  1D">J">1  represents  an  inter- 
pretation which  made  Gideon's  men  the  subject  of  both  the  last  verbs :  the> 
shouted  the  war-cry  and  put  (them)  to  flight  (RV.);  not,  they  (Miciianites)  tried 
to  save  their  goods  (Jud.  6";  Be.)  —  For  y-\^i  I  would  emend  ypyy,  all  the 
camp  awoke  ;  see  above.  —  i;;nM]  shouted  in  alarm,  raised  a  great  cry,  Mi.  4^ 
Is.  15*  cf.  Hos.,58  (31,  Ki.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Be.,  al.) ;  (^  earifiavav  /cat  ecpvyop,  prob. 
sounded  the  retreat  (Ra.,  Stud.,  al.) — 22.  nnsitJ'n  niXD  ^h^  wn^i]  these 
words  are  hard  to  construe :  they  blew  the  three  hundred  horns,  gives  undue 
prominence  to  the  instruments.  The  three  hundred  horns  sounded  ((g^^LMO^^ 
is  against  the  usage  of  the  verb.  Very  likely  the  editor  wrote  niNcn  C'Sc 
rnDr,:'n,  the  three  hundred  blew  their  hortis  (ypn  c.  c.  ace.  as  in  Jer.  4^  &c.); 
this  construction  might  easily  give  rise  to  misunderstanding,  since  throughout 
the  passage  the  verb  is  construed  with  3.  — njnDn  ^3:31]  1  accidentally  repeated 
from  in;?-ia.  Such  cases  are  often  explained  as  instances  of  1  explicative,  et 
quidem  ;  Ew.  §  340  b\  BDB.  s.v.  — ■  Of  the  places  here  named,  Abel-meholah, 
the  birthplace  of  Elisha  (i  K.  19^'^),  was,  in  the  system  introduced  by  Solo- 
mon, included  in  a  prefecture  which  extended  from  Taanach  and  Megiddo  in 
the  Great  Plain,  by  Jezreel  and  Beth-shean,  into  the  Jordan  valley.  Euseb. 
(O52.  22735  cf  9711)  suggests  a  village,  BrjOfiaeXa,  lo  m.  S.  of  Scythopolis; 
doubtless  in  the  modern  Wady  Malih.  This  name,  however,  is  given  by 
the  warm  salt  spring  in  the  Wady,*  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  Meholah. 
There  is  even  less  ground  for  Conder's  identification  of  Abel-meholah  with  the 
neighbouring  'Ain  Helweh  (Sweet  Spring).!  Sererah  is  commonly  supposed 
to  be  miswritten  for  Seredah  (i  K.  11-^),  J  and  the  latter  to  be  the  same  as 
Sarthan  (i  K.  4^2  ^46^^  y^m^  which  it  seems  to  be  identified  by  the  chronicler 
(2  Qir.  4^'^).  Sarthan  is  to  be  looked  for,  not  in  vicinity  of  Beth-shean,  but 
near  Adam  (Jos.  3^6),  i.e.  probably  the  modern  ed-Damieh,  where  the  main 
road  has  doubtless  always  crossed  the  Jordan.  This  is  confirmed  by  i  K.  7*6. 
the  bronze  castings  for  the  temple  were  made  in  the  Jordan  district,  at  the 
crossing  (ford)    of  Adamah   between   Succoth   and  Sarthan    (read    nin^JDn 

♦  Rob.,  BR^.  iii.  p.  306  f. ;  S.WP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  226. 

t  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p,  231 ;  G»  A.  Smith,  Ilist.  Geogr.,  p.  581.         X  ®  Sapeipa. 


VII.    22-24  213 

nmN[n]  for  the  meaningless  '"i3>;n3).  The  Succoth  of  i  K.  7**5  is  then  not 
'Ain  es-Saqut,  about  g  m.  from  Beisan  (Rob.,  B/\!'^.  iii.  309-312;  and  many),  but 
is  the  same  place  named  in  Gen.  and  Jos.,  east  of  the  Jordan.  With  this  Jud.  S'*  ^ 
admirably  agrees;  and  we  shall  probably  not  err  in  ascribing  nnT^x  Jud.  7"^- 
to  the  author  of  8^^-  (J).  As  Abel-meholah  is  named  with  vSarthan  in  i  K.  4}^, 
it  also  may  come  from  J  here.*  The  identification  of  Sarthan  (^nnx)  with 
Qarn  Sartabeh  (Talm.  X3"Jid),  the  great  landmark  of  the  Jordan  valley  (Van 
de  Velde,  Knob.,  Kc,  al.),  is  not  possible  (Di.).  —  Beth-shittah,  only  here; 
Shatta,  5.^  E.  m.  NW.  of  Beisan  and  about  6  m.  E.  of  Zer'in  (Rob.,  BR^.  ii. 
p.  356)  is  much  too  near  the  supposed  scene  of  the  surprise.  Tabbath  also  is 
unknown.  The  narrative  in  v.^^,  however,  supposes  that  the  places  were  in 
the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  toward  the  middle  of  its  course. 

23-25.  The  pursuit ;  death  of  the  chiefs.  —  Gideon  summons 
other  tribes  to  pursue  the  retreating  foe.  At  his  bidding  the 
Ephraimites  pour  down  from  their  highlands  and  intercept  the 
Midianites  in  their  flight  down  the  Jordan  valley.  The  two  chiefs 
are  captured  and  slain.  —  Verse ^Ms  an  editorial  addition;  v.^-^ 
with  8^"^  form  the  close  of  the  narrative  of  E.  —  23.  The  men  of 
Israel~\  all  the  men  capable  of  bearing  arms.  —  Naphtali,  Asher, 
and  all  Manasseh']  the  men  of  these  tribes,  with  Zebulun,  had  ac- 
cx)rding  to  6^  been  raised  at  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  only  to  be 
summarily  dismissed  (7^*^).  Now,  before  they  could  have  reached 
their  homes,  they  are  called  out  again.  Even  if  we  set  6^^  aside 
as  an  exaggeration  of  the  redactor,  the  difficulty  in  7^  is  only  in 
part  removed.  Naphtali  and  Asher  were  too  remote  to  be  of  any 
use  in  such  a  pursuit.  All  Manasseh  was  called  out  and  pursued 
Midian  (cf.  3^^),  would  not  be  exposed  to  this  objection;  but 
cannot  be  part  of  the  original  text ;  for,  first,  it  conflicts  with  6'^* 
"f-  ^ ;  second,  in  8\  where  Gideon  is  berated  in  such  a  menacing 
tone  by  the  Ephraimites,  it  is  plain  that  he  has  not  the  whole  tribe 
of  Manasseh  at  his  back.  The  entire  verse  is  therefore  the 
addition  of  a  redactor.  The  form  of  the  verse,  with  the  ante- 
position  of  the  object,  And  messengers  he  sent,  is  exactly  the  same 
as  in  6^.  —  24.  Gideon  sends  messengers  through  the  Highlands 
of  Ephraim,  bidding  the  tribesmen  hasten  down  into  the  Jordan 
valley  and  cut  ofl"  the  retreat  of  the  Midianites  by  holding  against 

*  The  text  of  i  K.  4I2  is  in  disorder,  "  all  Beth-shean  which  is  beside  Sarthan 
below  Jezreel "  is  obviously  corrupt.  No  O.T.  author  could  have  felt  it  necessary 
to  describe  in  such  a  way  the  situation  of  Beth-shean. 


214  JUDGES 

them  some  of  the  streams  which  they  must  pass.  —  Seize  the  water- 
courses against  them,  as  far  as  Beth-barah']  cf.  3^^-  12^^-.  The 
watercourses  (Ht.  waters;  cf.  waters  of  Megiddo,  5^^)  are  not  the 
fords  of  the  Jordan  (3^^  12^),  but  a  stream  emptying  into  the 
Jordan.  The  site  of  Beth-barah  is  unknown  ;  in  an  attempt  to  fix 
the  position  of  the  stream  we  have  to  be  guided  by  general  con- 
siderations :  first,  it  must  have  been  large  enough,  when  held  by 
an  enemy,  effectively  to  stop  the  Midianites  in  their  flight ; 
second,  it  must  be  far  enough  south  to  give  the  Ephraimites  time 
to  get  there  before  the  Midianites.  These  conditions  are  best 
met  by  the  Wady  Far'ah,  a  perennial  stream,  which  in  the  spring 
is  impassable  at  its  mouth,*  as  are  also  the  adjacent  fords  of  the 
Jordan  (Damieh).  In  the  tongue  of  land  between  W.  Far  ah  and 
the  Jordan  the  Midianites  would  be  in  a  cut  de  sac,  where,  in  their 
disorder,  destruction  was  inevitable.  Finally,  the  road  leading 
down  this  Wady  from  the  highlands  in  a  SE.  direction  would  be 
the  most  advantageous  Hne  for  the  Ephraimites  in  their  movement 
to  intercept  the  foe.  We  may,  therefore,  with  some  confidence 
locate  the  scene  of  v.^-  near  the  mouth  of  the  stream  which 
comes  from  Wady  Far  ah.f  —  As  far  as  Beth-barah']  the  site  is 
unknown.  J  —  And  the  Jordan]  that  is,  hold  the  Jordan  also 
against  them.  It  may  perhaps  be  suspected  that  the  words  have 
been  added  here  and  in  v.*',  from  3^^  i2^§  —  25.  The  leaders  are 
taken  and  slain.  —  They  killed  Oreb  at  Oreb's  Rock  and  Zeeb  at 
Zeeb's  Press]  the  names  of  these  places  commemorated  the  fate 
of  the  chiefs.  It  has  been  thought  that  Is.  10-^  {the  slaughter  of 
Midian  at  Oreb's  Rock)  follows  a  different  tradition,  in  which 
Oreb's  Rock,  which  in  Jud.  7^  is  only  mentioned  incidentally, 
was  the  scene  of  the  principal  encounter  and  the  overthrow  of 
Midian.  1|  But,  in  so  far  as  the  representation  of  Is.  ,10^^  differs 
from  that  of  Jud.,  it  may  be  explained  as  the  result  of  a  very 
natural  interpretation  of  the  latter.     The  victory  over  Midian  is 

*  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  385;  "a  narrow  trench  full  of  water  ...  5  yards  to  lo 
yards  across." 

t  This  reasoning  does  not  necessarily  assume  the  historical  accuracy  of  the  nar- 
rative, but  only  adequate  topographical  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  narrator. 

X  It  can,  of  course,  not  be  Mahadet  'Abareh,  north  of  the  mouth  of  Nahr 
(jalud  {SWP.  Great  Map,  sh.  ix.  Qk  ;  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  79).  §  Bu. 

II  Stud.,  p.  215  ;  We. 


VIl.  24-25  2  I  5 

alluded  to  also  in  Is.  9^  Ps.  8j^-'^'.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  that 
Oreb  and  Zeeb  are  both  animal  names,  Raven  and  Wolf.*  — 
And  pursued  Midiafi\  on  the  text,  see  crit.  note.  This  pursuit 
comes  too  late  after  the  capture  and  death  of  the  chiefs ;  the 
clause  also  interrupts  the  connexion  between  the  account  of  the 
death  of  Oreb  and  Zeeb  and  the  bringing  of  their  heads  to 
Gideon.  The  words  are  no  doubt  part  of  the  attempt  to  har- 
monize f^-8^  with  S'**^-.  The  redactor's  representation  is  that  the 
main  body  of  the  Midianites  escaped  across  the  Jordan ;  the 
Ephraimites,  bearing  their  trophies,  followed  them  over,  and  there 
fell  in  with  Gideon.  —  On  the  other  side  of  the  Jordafi]  harmo- 
nistic  addition  of  the  redactor.!  The  author  of  7^-,  on  the 
contrary,  represented  Gideon  as  following  the  Midianites  in  hot 
pursuit  down  the  valley,  driving  them  into  the  arms  of  the 
Ephraimites,  who  bring  the  heads  of  the  chiefs  to  him  as  he 
approaches  the  scene  of  the  slaughter. 

23.  pj;x^i]  v.24;  pyni  634-35cf.  4io.i3.__c,x-ity>B'^N]  seeon  V.14.  — 24.  d>d] 
running  water,  stream,  Nu.  24^  &c.  —  ma  no]  is  often  explained  as  equivalent 
to  r\-\2';  no,  V  being  sloughed  in  the  common  speech  (Cler,,  Reland,  Ges., 
^'"V.,  al.  mu.) ;  but  no  such  tendency  appears  in  Heb.  The  premise  of 
Reland's  conjecture,  viz.,  that  the  place  is  identical  with  Brjda^apa  (east  of 
the  Jordan),  in  the  Receptus,  John  1-^,  is  untenable;  and  with  it  the  chief 
motive  for  the  theory  falls.  (3  BuLd^rjpa  (BaiOrjpa  ABai.  jg  transcriptional 
error)  iL5»  would  rather  suggest  n-iN3;  cf.  Jerome,  OS'^.  10612,  quod  interpre- 
tatur  domus  aquae,  sive  putei.  —  25.  2nt  api]  3p''  see  on  6^^;  like  nj  it  is 
sometimes  used  for  the  whole;  Dt.  15^*  &c.  —  piD  hn  iqti>i]  the  prep,  is  quite 
anomalous;  we  should  probably  emend  nx  (cf.  ffilLE).  —  3xn  2"^;?  cni]  two 
genitives  after  one  noun;  see  on  i*^.  The  singular,  C'vS-i,  is  in  accordance  with 
Heb.  idiom.  —  fTTiS  i^vD]  on  the  other  side  (east)  of  the  J.,  where  Gideon 
was  (US',  Ra.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Reuss.),  Nu.  22^  34!^;  cf.  S  jidxd  2^,  and  note  on  i^^ 
(p.  34).  ^Qt,  frojti  the  other  side  of  J.  (Cler.,  Stud.,  Ew.  GVI.  ii.  p.  546, 
cf.  541,  Cass.,  al.).  The  view  of  Ges.  (on  Is.  io-°),  Cass.,  al.,  that  Oreb's 
Rock  and  Zeeb's  Press  were  east  of  the  Jordan,  is  mistaken. 

VIII.  1-3.  The  Ephraimites  quarrel  with  Gideon;  their 
anger   is   appeased. — The   beginning  strongly   resembles   12^-'. 

*  On  animal  names  among  Semites,  cf.  W.  R.  Smith,  Journ.  of  Philology,  ix. 
p.  75  ff. ;  Kinship  and  Marriage,  p.  190  ff.,  218  ff. ;  Noldeke,  ZDMG.  xl.  1886, 
p.  156  ff. ;  J.  Jacobs,  "  Are  there  Totem-Clans  in  the  Old  Testament,"  Archcsol. 
Review,  iii.  1889,  p.  145  ff. 

t  We.,  Co7np.,  p.  225 ;  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  187  n. ;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  115  ;  al. 


2l6  JUDGES 

Wellhausen  regards  the  latter  as  a  purely  secondary  development 
of  a  motive  borrowed  from  8^"^ ;  *  Kittel  is  of  the  opposite  opinion, 
viz.,  that  8^'^  is  an  imitation  of  i2^"''.t  The  identity  between  the 
two  stories  does  not,  however,  extend  beyond  the  beginning ;  the 
sequel  is  as  different  as  can  be  imagined,  and  in  each  is  in  entire 
conformity  with  the  situation.  That  the  Ephraimites,  in  the  pride 
of  their  pre-eminence  as  members  of  the  leading  tribe  in  Israel, 
should  resent  being  left  out  and  so  deprived  of  their  share  of 
glory  and  of  spoil,  and  should  vehemently  assail  a  leader  who  had 
dared  to  succeed  without  their  counsel  and  aid,  seems  so  natural 
a  thing  that  we  can  without  difficulty  believe  that  it  happened 
more  than  once,  or  was  the  subject  of  more  than  one  tale. — 
1.  W7iat  trick  is  this  thou  hast  played  us,  not  to  call  us'\  cf.  i2\ 
The  great  tribe  is  jealous  of  its  natural  hegemony,  and  angry  that 
it  should  seem  to  be  ignored  ;  see  above.  —  They  qtiarrelled  with 
him  violently^  very  likely  with  such  threats  as  are  uttered  in  1 2^ 
—  2.  Gideon  placates  their  anger  by  magnifying  their  achieve- 
ment, and  speaking  of  his  own  part  as  an  insignificant  one.  The 
skill  with  which  his  answer  is  turned  reminds  us  strongly  of  6"^\ 
which  our  analysis  would  assign  to  the  same  author.  —  What  have 
I  done  now  to  compare  with  you .?]  now ;  after  all.  —  Is  not  the 
gleaning  of  Eph?'ai?n  better  than  the  vintage  of  Abiezer']  an  apt 
and  striking  figure.  The  Ephraimites  had  indeed  not  been  called 
into  action  until  after  Gideon  and  his  followers  had  gained  the 
first  success  over  the  enemy,  but  a  far  greater  success  had  been 
reserved  for  them  in  the  slaughter  of  the  invaders  and  the  capture 
of  their  chiefs.  In  contrast  with  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  in 
congruity  with  the  metaphor,  Gideon  does  not  name  himself,  but 
his  clan,  Abiezer.  —  3.  The  meaning  of  the  figure.  —  God  has 
given']  the  name  may  perhaps  be  some  indication  of  authorship ; 
but,  as  in  many  instances,  the  tradition  is  not  consentaneous.  — 
IVhat  have  I  been  able  to  do,  to  co??ipare  with  you .?]  the  pride  of 
the  great  tribe  ought  to  be  fully  satisfied  by  the  event ;  God  has 
thrown  into  their  hands  the  chiefs  of  Midian.  He  himself  had 
only  beaten  up  the  game  which  they  had  killed.  —  Their  anger 


*  Comp.,  p.  229 ;  cf.  Doom,,  p.  loi. 
t  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  72  n. ;  cf.  p.  80  f. 


VIIT.   1-3  217 

against  him  7uas  softened  by  this  speech.  —  It  is  conjectured  that 
S--*  was  the  original  sequel  of  8^ ;  see  above,  p.  1 76.* 

1.  anns  tr'-'S  rSvS  ncNM]  plur.  with  following  collective  subject.  —  nam  no 
u'?  n^a^  nrn]  Ges.-^  p.  472;  Paul,  Principien,  p.  114  f.  — pN-^p  ^nSaS]  Baer; 
the  common  edd.  have  niNip.  The  normal  inf  is  N"i|">;  grammarians  explain 
the  form  in  the  text  as  due  to  the  analogy  of  n-^  (Sta.  §  619  >(';  K6.,  i.  p.  61 1). 
Possibly  we  should  rather  attribute  TN-ip  ^nSn"'  to  the  analogy  of  the  common 
HNnp^.  — no'-n  oj  when  (©!LE<S);  2^8  Hos.  ii^  &c.  Be.  construes  as  an 
exclamation,  For  thou  wentest  out !  —  nprni]  4^.  —  2.  ddd]  v.-'^,  an  inexact  but 
not  uncommon  shifting  of  the  point  of  comparison  from  the  act  to  the  person 
(agent  or  object) ;  Dt.  320  &c.  A  number  of  codd.  and  some  of  the  oldest 
edd.  have  dd3,  what  have  I  done  to  you  (Ex.  12^23  S,  iS^^^.  —  PiSV;-]  gleanings 
of  a  vineyard  (Mi.  7I)  or  olive  tree  (Is.  17*^);  not  of  grain  (tap^).  The  pred. 
adj.  3VlO  is  not  infrequently  uninflected;  i  S.  19*  2  K.  512  &c.,  Davidson,  Syntax, 
§  116,  Rem.  3.  —  •^^^2o]  one  of  the  rare  cases  in  which  a  mute  loses  its 
doubling  in  consequence  of  the  reduction  of  the  vowel;  Ges.25  §  20,  3  <J. — 
3.  D^n'?N]  631  ^^^\  —  Dia*;;  >n'7:)^  no]  inf.  in  direct  regimen;  Gen.  37*  Ex.  2^ 
18^3  Nu.  2238  &c.;  cf  Jud.  1 1^5.  —  Dmi  nnoi  TvV]  nn,  excited  feeling,  passion; 
the  specific  definition  is  given  by  the  context;  cf.  Job  15I3  Eccl.  10*  (ndic). 
—  vSiJD]  cf.  uoD  ri-\>i  Ex.  426,  also  Jud.  1 1^^. 

4-27.  The  pursuit  beyond  the  Jordan.  —  Gideon,  with  his 
three  hundred  men,  follows  the  Midianites  across  the  Jordan. 
The  men  of  Succoth  and  Penuel  refuse  him  food  for  his  hungry 
band ;  with  threats  of  vengeance,  he  presses  on  (v.**"^) .  He  sur- 
prises the  camp  and  takes  prisoners  the  two  kings  (v.^°-^-). 
Returning  in  triumph,  he  inflicts  condign  punishment  on  Succoth 
and  Penuel  (v.^^"^''),  and  slays  the  captive  kings  to  avenge  the 
death  of  his  brothers  (v.^^"^^).  He  decHnes  the  offer  of  the  king- 
dom (v.^-*").  Of  a  part  of  the  gold  taken  among  the  spoils  he 
makes  an  image  {ephod)  which  he  sets  up  at  Ophrah  (v.^^--*^). 

The  unity  of  this  part  of  the  story  is  obvious  and  unquestioned. 
The  only  exception  is  v.^^',  in  which  the  '  men  of  Israel '  offer 
Gideon  the  kingdom  and  he  declines  from  theocratic  motives. 
These  verses  certainly  do  not  belong  to  the  narrative  of  J ;  see 
comm.  in  loc.  In  the  enumeration  of  the  spoils  (v.-*^)  some  exag- 
geration by  later  editors  or  scribes  may  be  suspected.  On  the  rela- 
tion of  8^"'  to  6^-8^,  see  above,  p.  1 76  f . ;  and  on  the  connexion 
with  ch.  9,  see  introduction  to  that  chapter. — 4.    Gideon  eame  to 

*  See,  however,  on  8-'-'-. 


21 8  JUDGES 

the  Jordan']  if  our  analysis  be  correct,  this  is  a  continuation  of  J's 
narrative.  In  7"  he  has  told  us  that  the  Midianites  fled  to 
Seredah,  probably  near  the  principal  crossing  of  the  Jordan 
between  the  vicinity  of  Shechem  and  the  opposite  region  of 
Gilead.  The  Bedawin  on  their  camels  (S-'-^*^  cf.  6')  easily  out- 
stripped the  pursuit  and  made  their  escape  across  the  river.  The 
answer  of  the  men  of  Succoth  shows  that  they  beHeved  the 
raiders  to  be  already  far  out  of  reach ;  the  surprise  of  the  camp 
shows  that  the  Midianites  imagined  themselves  to  be  so.  —  Cross- 
ing over,  he  and  the  three  hundred  men]  the  participial  con- 
struction is  an  unusual  one ;  the  ordinary  expression  would  be, 
and  crossed  over.  Perhaps  the  word  is  a  gloss ;  see  note.  —  The 
three  hundred  men  are  evidently  a  constant  feature  in  the  dif- 
ferent versions  of  the  story ;  cf.  f'^.  —  Exhausted  and  pursuing] 
cf.  4"^  The  ancient  translators  found  the  order  of  the  words 
unnatural,  and  tried  various  shifts  with  them. — 5.  Succoth]  evi- 
dently lay  east  of  the  Jordan,  not  very  far  from  the  ford ;  Jos.  13^ 
(cf.  Ps.  60*^)  locates  it  in  the  valley ;  Gen.  t^-^'^  (cf.  32^-^^)  brings  it 
into  connexion  with  Penuel,  as  in  our  passage ;  both  are  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Jabbok  (Nahr  ez-Zerqa).*  The  sites  have  riot 
been  recovered.  In  the  Jerusalem  Talmud,  Succoth  is  identified 
with  Dar'ala,  the  modern  Tell  Deir  'Alia  just  north  of  the  Zerqa ; 
but  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  this  is  any  more  than  an  inference 
of  Jewish  scholars  from  the  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
are  cited  above.!  A  place  north  of  the  Jabbok  would  be  out  of 
the  line  of  Gideon's  pursuit,  if  the  other  topographical  notices 
of  our  story  have  been  rightly  interpreted.  The  connexion  in 
Gen.  also  favours  a  site  south  of  the  Jabbok.  %  —  Loaves  of  bread] 
round  flat  cakes ;  i  S.  lo'^  —  To  the  men  who  are  at  my  feet]  4^^. 
—  Zebah  and  Zaimutina,  the  kings  of  Midian]  cf.  Oreb  and  Zeeb, 
the  chiefs  of  Midian,  in  ch.  7.  The  pronunciation  of  the  names 
has  very  likely  been  perverted  by  malicious  wit ;  see  note.  — 
6.  The  authorities  of  the  town  refuse  Gideon's  request.  The 
translation,  pri^ices  of  Succoth  (EV.),  is  not  quite  accurate,  the 


*  On  Succoth  see  Reland,  Palaestina,  p.  308 ;  Neubauer,  Geog.  du  Talmud, 
p.  248  f. ;  S.  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  p.  385  ff. 

t  See  Merrill,  "  Identification  of  Succoth  and  PcnuelJ"  Dibl.  Sacra,  ?(xxiv.  1877^ 
p.  742-754  ;  on  the  other  side,  Paine,  ib.  xxxv.  p.  481-498.         X  Kohl.,  Di.,  Del.,  al. 


VIII.  4-7  219 

word  means  rather  officials ;  here,  the  men  who  stood  at  the  head 
of  the  council  of  elders;  see  on  v.^^  The  disposition  of  the 
tribes  east  of  the  Jordan  to  pursue  their  separate  interests,  uncon- 
cerned by  what  befell  their  kinsmen  across  the  river,  is  made  a 
reproach  to  them  in  the  Ode  of  Deborah ;  see  on  5^^  It  is  not 
improbable,  moreover,  that  in  Succoth  and  Penuel,  as  in  Shechem 
(ch.  9),  the  native  population  predominated.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  seek  a  motive  for  the  refusal  in  the  fear  of  reprisals  by  the 
Midianites*  They  add  to  denial,  derision.  —  Are  Zebah  and 
Zalmunna  already  in  thy  power,  that  we  should  give  thy  soldiers 
bread ?~\  Gideon  was  on  a  bootless  errand;  the  Midianites  were 
already  far  away,  and  if  he  and  his  little  company  should  come 
up  with  them,  it  would  only  be  the  worse  for  him.  Why  should 
they  help  him  on  in  this  wild  expedition?  — 7.  He  answers  their 
jeer  with  a  threat...  When  he  returns  victorious,  he  will  requite 
their  conduct  as  it  deserves;  cf.  v}\—I  will  thresh  your  flesh 
with  thorns  of  the  desert  and  thistles']  cf.  v.^^  With,  not  of 
instrument,  but  of  accompaniment,  together  with.  He  will  throw 
them  naked  into  a  bed  of  thorns  and  trample  them  together,  like 
grain  on  the  threshing-floor.t  This  is  the  only  natural  interpre- 
tation of  the  words,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  agree  with  v.'^  and 
the  text  is  perhaps  glossed;  see  note.  Palestine  has  a  great 
variety  of  thorny  plants  and  shrubs,  many  of  which  are  formi- 
dably armed.  The  meaning  threshing-sledges,  frequently  attributed 
in  modern  dictionaries  and  commentaries  to  the  word  translated 
above,  thistles,  is  a  figment  of  bad  etymology. 

4,  n^V]  this  use  of  the  circumstantial  ptcp,  is  anomalous  (though  cf. 
Nu.  1 62").  I  We  expect  -\2TV,  and  the  text  is  either  to  be  so  emended 
(cf.  (5?LSE) ;  or,  more  probably,  in;'  (^abar)  was  originally  a  marginal  gloss, 
which,  when  transferred  to  the  text,  was  forced  into  construction  by  pronounc- 
ing "ober.  —  5.  m:;D]  Jer.  Shebiith,  ix.  2  (fol.  sS^)  identifies  the  places  named 
in  Jos.  1327  in  order  from  south  to  north:  Beth-nimrah,  r'^'^J  ^'^  (now  Tell 
Nimrin);  Snccoth,  n^y^n  (later  edd.  nSynn;  modern  Deir  'Alia);  Zaphon,§ 
inn>'  CA/xa^oOs  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  xiii.  13,  3  §  356,  cf.  0S-\  21975;  now  Amateh, 
near  the  Jordan,  north  of  Wady  er-Rugeib).— >'2r^';'?i  n^r]  (5  Ze/3€e  Kal 
i:a\fxava.      M,  as  so  often  in  similar  cases,  by  an  inept  witticism  makes 


*  Arias.  Cler.,  Stud.,  Reuss.  al.  t  So  r,  riglitly  interpreted  by  Ki. 

+  Cf.  Ew.  §  341  ^.  3-  ^  Cf.  Jud.  12I.  ' 


220  JUDGES 

the  names  mean  Victim  and  Protection  refused.  What  the  former  really  was 
can  hardly  be  made  out;  *  the  latter  is  probably  a  compound  of  dSs,  cf.  3?!i'oSi' 
in  an  inscription  from  Teima.f  With  the  second  element,  cf.  yjo""  i  Chr.  7^^, 
>jcn  Gen.  36*°  (Edom).  In  all  probability  we  have  here  a  genuine  Midianite 
name.  —  6.  moD  n-^' -^DvSii]  probably  to  be  emended  nssM;  the  uninflected 
predicate  of  the  verbal  sentence  with  a  human  subject  is  not  in  Hebrew  used 
with  the  same  freedom  as  in  Arabic;  Ges.^^  §  145,  7;  cf.  Roorda,  §  589.  Com- 
pare 4I0  7^  I2'5. — 7.  "Ti^ni  .  .  .  mn>  nna]  consec.  pf.  after  temporal  clause, 
Dr3.  §  123  /3;  Ges.25  §  112,  5  <:.  — i^tnn  ^sip  tn]  cum  spinis  (IL,  cf.  ®;<S  "'V, 
^  ev)\  90  Drus.,  Cler.,  Stud.  The  preposition  nx  is  not  instrumental,  /  zvill 
beat  you  with  thorns  (Ki.,  Abarb.,  al.  mu.).  Others  take  nx  as  nota  accusativi 
(Schm.);  recent  interpreters  who  adopt  this  view  construe  the  verb  with  two 
accusatives  (Ew.  §  234  e  ;  Be.,  Ke.,  al.),  I  will  make  the  thorns  thresh  your 
fiesh.  None  of  these  constructions  is  satisfactory.  The  first,  which  alone  is 
grammatically  unimpeachable,  is  hardly  the  natural  expression,  and  does  not 
seem  to  accord  with  v.^^.  It  is  possible  that  the  words  nNi  iman  isip  nx 
cjpinn  are  a  gloss  borrowed  from  v.^^,  and  that  the  original  text  in  v.'^  was 
merely  DDi:i':i  dn  Tia^ni.  —  aisip  is  the  most  general  word  in  the  O.T.  for  thorn- 
bushes. —  □•'jpn^n]  (gLM  2  rpL^oXoL  'A  TpayaKavdai  3L  tribuli,  so  also  %  a, 
Abulvv.,  Ra.,  Ki.,  Abarb.,  and  all  older  Christian  interpreters.  In  the  Egyp- 
tian dialect  of  Arabic  bsrqan  is  the  name  of  Phaceopappus  scoparius  Boiss. 
=  Centaur ea  scop.  Sieber,  a  composite  plant  with  thorny  heads;  see  Ascherson 
in  Low,  Aram.  PJianzennamen,  p.  429.  This  is  entirely  suitable  in  the  con- 
text; a  teasel  or  knapweed  would  be  admirably  suited  to  Gideon's  purpose; 
see  on  v.^^  j  xhe  meaning  threshing-sledges  was  invented  by  J.  D.  Michaelis 
(  Orient.  Bibliothek,  vii.  1 774,  p.  17).  The  steps  by  which  this  result  is  obtained 
are  these:  p-\3  ('lightning')  might  be  applied  to  fire-stones;  fire-stones  might 
be  set  in  the  bottom  of  the  threshing-sledge;  the  whole  implement  might  be 
called  from  these  stones,  |pi3  (or  "'Jpi^,  Ges.)  :  ergo  D''jp"^:3  are  threshing- 
sledges.  §  Michaelis'  theory  was  taken  up  by  Gesenius  in  his  Lex.  (1810),  1| 
and  has  since  maintained  its  place  in  commentaries  and  lexicons  (Ges.  Thes., 
MV.,  SS.,  Ew.,  Reuss,  al.).  It  is  rightly  rejected  by  Stud.,  Be'^.,  Ke.,  Wetz- 
stein  {Zeitschr.  f.  Ethnologic,  v.  1873,  p.  285),  Low  (^PJlanzennamen,  p.  356). 
Stud,  rightly  observed  that  nx  is  entirely  irreconcilable  with  this  theory. 

8.  Thence  he  we  fit  up  to  Pe7iuel'\  Succoth  lay  in  the  valley ; 
Penuel  was  farther  from  the  Jordan,  in  the  upland.     From  Gen.  32 

♦  Note,  however,  the  resemblance  to  Zceb  in  the  other  version.  If  Zeeb  origi- 
nally stood  in  J's  narrative  also,  it  would  have  to  be  changed  after  7^5. 

t  Nokleke,  Berichte  dcr  Berliner  Akademie,  1884,  p.  815 ;  Baethgen,  Bcitriigc, 
p.  80  f.  \  Older  identifications,  see  Celsius,  Hicrobotanicon,  ii.  p.  192-195. 

\  Captives  ground  to  death  under  threshing-sledges,  Am.  i3  2  S.  I2''5i.  For  a 
description  of  the  modern  Syrian  threshing-stedge,  sec  Post,  PEF.  Qu.  St.,  1891, 
p.  114.  II  Cf.  also  Eichhorn,  in  his  (3d)  cd.  of  Simonis'  Lexicon  (1793). 


VTTI.  8--II  221 

it  appears  to  have  baen  on  the  Jabbok,  at  the  point  where  the 
road  from  the  north  crossed  the  stream.  It  was  evidently  a 
position  of  importance,  for  one  of  the  first  acts  of  Jeroboam  I. 
was  to  fortify  Shechem  and  Penuel  (i  K.  12^^).  The  name  (Face 
of  God)  was  perhaps  originally  given  to  some  projecting  rock  in 
whose  contour  a  face  was  seen;  compare  the  promontory  0eoO 
Trpoo-coTTov  on  the  coast  near  Tripolis.*  It  has  not  been  identified  ; 
Merrill  would  put  it  at  Tuliil  ed-Dahab.  —  He  made  the  same 
request  at  Penuel  as  at  Succoth,  and  got  the  same  answer. — 
9.  When  I  return  successful,  I  will  pull  down  this  tower']  the 
stronghold  of  the  town,  which  was  itself  probably  unwalled ;  of. 
^\7  p47.5if.^  Numerous  remains  of  such  towers  (of  course  of  later 
date)  are  found  east  of  the  Jordan.!  — 10.  Zeffah  and  Zalmunna 
were  in  Karkor']  the"  place  is  otherwise  unknown ;  Carcaria,  one 
day's  journey  from  Petra,  with  which  Eusebius  identifies  it,  is 
much  too  remote.  On  the  topography  in  general  see  on  v.".  — 
Their  force  was  ivith  them]  the  clans  which  had  taken  part  in 
the  foray  had  not  yet  dispersed.  The  latter  part  of  the  verse  is 
obviously  inserted  by  the  redactor  to  harmonize  8^*^*"  with  7^^-. 
The  fifteen  thousand  men  whom  the  kings  stiil  had  with  them 
were  the  pitiful  remnant  of  the  host  w!th  which  they  invaded 
Palestine ;  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  fighting  men  had 
perished.  The  enormous  figwres  remind  us  of  eh.  19-21  (cf.  e.g. 
20^),  and  especially  of  Nu.  31,  the  destrnction  of  Midian  in  th€ 
days  of  Moses.  The  original  narrative  may  have  given  the  num- 
bers of  the  Midianite  host  which  Gideon  with  his  three  hundred 
put  to  flight,  but  in  the  connexion  it  is  not  unnatural  to  suspect 
that  the  figures  (15,000)  have  been  raised.  — 11.  Gideon  went 
up  by  the  road  .  .  .  ,  east  of  Nob  ah  and  Jogbehah]  the  words 
omitted  in  the  translation  are  generally  interpreted,  the  road  of 
the  dwellers  in  tents,  i.e.,  of  the  Bedawin.  So  all  the  ancient  ver- 
sions ;  cf.  especially  S :  The  way  to  the  camp  of  the  Arabs  who 
were  encamped  in  tents  in  the  desert  east  of  Nobah.  But  the 
Hebrew  text  does  not  admit  of  any  grammatical  interpretation ; 
probably  the  name  of  a  place  originally  stood  here.    Jogbchah  is 


*  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  754  f. 

t  Porter,  Damascus,  ii.  p.  195  ;  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  p.  15,  37,  405. 


222  JUDGES 

named  in  Nu.  32^^  among  the  cities  built,  or  fortified,  by  Gad.* 
It  is  now  generally  identified  with  Khirbet  el-Gubeihat,  NW.  of 
'Amman  and  about  midway  between  that  place  and  es-SalLj 
The  site  agrees  sufficiently  well  with  the  scanty  indicia  of  our 
narrative.  The  general  course  of  the  flight  from  the  fords  of  the 
Jordan  was  then  south-east,  toward  the  great  desert.  Nobah 
occurs  in  Nu.  32^-,  where  we  read  that  a  clan  Nobah  (from  the 
context  a  branch  of  Machir)  conquered  Kenath  and  its  depend- 
encies, and  gave  the  place  its  own  name.  Kenath  is  commonly 
supposed  to  be  el-Qanawat  in  the  Hauran ;  %  but  this  cannot  be 
meant  here.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the  Nobah  in  our  text 
was  the  earlier  seat  of  the  clan,  from*  which  it  migrated  to  the 
north,  to  Kenath ;  §  but  the  identification  of  the  latter  with  Qana- 
wat  is  rather  to  be  given  up.  ||  The  Midianites,  imagining  that 
they  are  safe  from  pursuit,  allow  themselves  to  be  surprised. — 
12.  The  two  kings  flee,  but  are  pursued  and  taken.  —  He  threw 
all  the  camp  into  a  panic~\  the  panic  of  the  Midianites  seems  to 
come  too  late,  after  the  flight  and  pursuit  of  the  kings.  Scharfen- 
berg  conjectured,  he  devoted  all  the  camp,  utterly  destroyed  it 
(see  on  i^'').  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  to  touch  the  text. 
The  capture  of  Zebah  and  Zalmunna  is  the  point  in  which  the 
interest  of  the  narration  centres ;  the  rest  in  their  fright  fled  in  all 
directions,  leaving  the  kings  to  their  fate ;  cf.  2  S.  i  f,  and  with 
the  verb,  Ez.  7,0'^.% 

*  Most  of  the  other  places  in  this  list  were  in  northern  Moab ;  several  of  them 
occur  also  in  the  inscription  of  Mesha. 

t  See  Burckhardt,  Syria,  p,  361 ;  Conder,  SEP.  Memoirs,  p.  iii  f.  The  identifi- 
cation, Knobel  on  Nu.  3235;  Ewald,  GVI.  ii.  p.  547  n. ;  Dietrich,  in  Merx,  Archiv, 
i.  1867,  p.  346-349 ;  Be.,  Ke.,  Di.,  Bad.,  al.  G.  A.  Smith  strangely  supposes  it  to 
have  originated  with  Conder.  In  general,  the  author  of  this  Historical  Geography 
is  not  very  well  informed  about  the  history  of  geography. 

t  Descriptions  of  Qanawat,  Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  83  ff. ;  Merrill,  East  of  Jordan, 
p.  36-42 ;  Bad3.  207  f.  KivaOa,  Fl.  Jos.,  b.J.  i.  19,  2  ^^  366  ;  Ptol.,  v.  15,  23 ;  Plin., 
«.  h.,  V.  74.  The  identification  is  made  by  Euseb.,  OS"^.  26915,  but  is  probably 
mistaken ;  we  should  not  look  for  the  Kenath  of  Nu.  32^2  in  the  remote  NE. 
I  Chr.  223^  when  rightly  translated,  lends  no  support  to  the  theory.  Dt.  3!^  Jos.  1330, 
which  put  the  Havoth-jair  in  Bashan,  are  the  result  of  a  late  and  erroneous  combi- 
nation (Di.,  NDJ.,  p.  201 ;  Kue.,  Th.  T.  xi.  p.  479  ff.)  ;  see  below  on  lo*. 

^  Di.,  NDJ.,  p.  201  f. ;  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  149. 

II  Socin,  Be. 

^  Stud. 


VIII.   II-I3  223 

8.  Snud]  Merrill  {East  of  the  Jordan,  p.  390-392)  thinks  that  Penucl  was 
at  Tulul  ed-Dahab,  conical  hills,  crowned  by  old  ruins,  which  rise  from  the 
middle  of  the  Jabbok  valley  to  a  height  of  250  feet.  The  stream,  with  a  sharp 
bend,  winds  between  them.  —  With  the  name  Penuel  compare  S^^  JD  in 
Carthaginian  inscriptions  to  S>'3  JD  njn,  in  which  Halevy  and  E.  Meyer  are 
very  probably  right  in  seeing,  not  a  mystical  epithet,  "Tnt,  face  of  Baal," 
but  the  name  of  a  place;  cf,  promunturium  quod  Saturni  vocatur,  Plin.,  n.  h., 
iii.  19.  — 10.  ipip3]  a  similar  name  (Qarqaru)  is  found  in  inscriptions  of  Sal- 
manassar  and  Sargon;  apparently  a  place  in  the  vicinity  of  Hamath  (Schrader, 
KAT^.  p.  180).  In  v.ii  ^'"  puts  the  camp  at  'Aro'er  (see  on  ii33).*_ 
^iSn  -w^  na'DHD]  with  the  irregular  construction  of  the  numeral  cf.  2  S.  19I8 
Jud.  2o25,  Ges.25  §  97,  2  n.  — D-ip  >j3]  in  a  wider  sense  than  in  63-33^  to  include 
all  the  Bedawin.  — D^^Qjn]  the  slain  ;  20*^  Jos.  S^s  Jer.  6^^  S^^  &c.  —  inn  n'^tt'] 
excludes  non-combatants;  the  phrase  2o2-i5. 17.35. 4C  2  S.  24^  &c.  The  resem- 
blances in  this  part  of  the  verse  to  ch.  20  are  to  be  noted.  — 11.  a^SnN3  \ji3i;*n] 
commonly  rendered,  those  who  are  lodged  in  tents,  i.e.,  the  Bedawin,  and 
explained,  the  road  which  they  ordinarily  took  in  crossing  the  country,  per- 
haps a  trail  which  avoided  the  larger  towns.  This  interpretation  is  more 
ingenious  than  convincing.  The  construct  state  before  a  preposition  is  not 
infrequent  (Philippi,  Status  constructus,  p.  57;  Ew.  §  289  b-,  Ges.^^  §  130,  i); 
but  the  article  before  the  construct  is  foreign  to  the  whole  genius  of  the 
Semitic  languages,  and  is  not  rendered  less  objectionable  by  reference  to  other 
instances  of  the  same  error  (Ps.  w^-^  123^;  cf.  Philippi,  p.  40  f.;  01.  on 
Ps.  1 1 3*')-  The  pass.  ptcp.  is  also  a  stumbling-block,  not  so  much  in  itself 
(see  Ko.,  i.  p.  176  f.),  as  because  the  act.  ptcp.  of  this  verb  is  usual  in  this 
sense  and  construction.  Finally,  l"n  with  a  gen.  is  elsewhere  always  the  way 
to,  or  by,  a  place;  not  that  used  by  such  and  such  persons;  f  the  road  leading 
to  the  Bedawin  camps,  would  be  suitable  here,  but  cannot  be  extracted  from 
the  text.  —  nnij'']  ^  nhdi;  by  etymological  combination.  —  ni33  rfn  njn::ni] 
n:D3  is  predicate,  not  adv.  accus.  of  state  (Be.).  —  12.  nnnn]  so  versions  (exc. 
®^.  Scharfenberg  conj.  Dnnn;  %  Schleusner  nn^n.  If  an  emendation  is 
necessary,  ninDn  (Ex.  232^  Ps.  83^)  would  perhaps  be  preferable  to  either; 
cf.  (gA  e^irpixpev.     Cf.  however,  Ez.  30^  Zech.  2^  2  S.  172. 

13-17.  Gideon  returns  with  his  prisoners  and  punishes  Suc- 
coth  and  Penuel.  — 13.  The  end  of  the  verse  is  obscure.  The 
words  are  now  commonly  understood  to  designate  the  point  at 
which  Gideon  turned  back,  from  the  pass  of  Heres ;  §  and  the 
significance  of  this  notice  is  supposed  to  be,  that  from  this  place 


*  Stud,  suggested  that  np-ip  may  be  a  harder  pronunciation  of  i>n;' ;  cf.  Aram. 
Npnx  for  NinN. 

t  Nu.  2ii  is  not  an  exception  ;  way  of  the  spies  is  inadmissible  (Di.  ad  loc). 
X  Cf.  FI.  Jos.,  5te<|.0eipe.  ^  ffi^  ■»!•  5.  Be.,  Ke.,  al. 


224  JUDGES 

he  returned  to  Succoth  by  a  different  road  from  that  which  he 
had  taken  in  the  pursuit,  and  so  took  the  town  by  surprise.*  In 
our  ignorance  of  the  topography,  we  may  hesitate  to  pronounce 
decidedly  against  this  explanation;  but  we  cannot  have  much 
confidence  in  it.  The  text  is  not  intact,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  slight  emendation  which  this  interpretation  requires  is  suf- 
ficient to  restore  it.  — 14.  He  caught  a  boy  from  Succoth  and  by 
questioning  got  from  him  a  list  of  the  principal  men  of  the  place. 

—  He  wrote  down  for  him  the  officials  of  Succoth  a?id  its  elders~\ 
in  v.^  only  the  oflicials  {sarim)  are  mentioned;  in  v.^^  only  the 
elders  {zeqen'im).  The  latter  are  the  heads  of  the  famiHes  or 
septg  which  were  settled  in  the  town ;  all  the  functions  of  govern- 
ment, so  far  as  they  existed  in  such  a  state  of  society,  were  in  the 
hands  of  the  council  of  elders.t  The  word  sar,  on  the  other 
hand,  designates  an  officer,  official,  especially  one  appointed  by  the 
government ;  cf.  9^,  the  commandant  of  the  city,  &c.  Here  also 
it  may  perhaps  mean  military  officers,  the  leaders  of  the  men  of 
Succoth  in  war ;  cf.  the  chiefs  {sarun)  of  Midian,  7^  8^.  —  Seventy- 
seven  7ne7i\  one  of  those  round  numbers  that  are  hardly  meant  to 
be  taken  arithmetically.  In  early  times  the  number  of  elders  in  a 
city  was  naturally  determined  by  the  number  of  families  that  were 
able  to  establish  their  right  to  be  represented  in  the  council. 
— 15.  With  this  description  of  the  men  who  were  to  be  held 
responsible  for  the  affront  he  had  received,  Gideon  came  to  Suc- 
coth. The  place  does  not  seem  to  have  offered  any  resistance ; 
it  was  probably  not  walled.  — Here  are  Zebah  and  Zalmunna,  with 
who7n  you  taunted  me']  v.^.  He  had  kept  his  prisoners  alive  in 
order  to  show  them  thus  to  the  citizens  of  Succoth  and  Penuel. — 
To  thine  exhausted  men]  the  adjective  which  Gideon  himself  uses 
in  v.^  is  effectively  put  in  the  month  of  the  men  of  Succoth  to 
aggravate  their  churhshness.  — 16.    He  carries  out  his  threat  (v.^). 

—  He  took  the  elders  of  the  town  and  thorns  of  the  desert  and 
thistles,  and  threshed  with  them  the  men  of  Succoth]  for  threshed 
J^  has,  taught;  cf.  i  S.  14^^  None  of  the  versions,  however,  seem 
to  have  read  so,  and  the  correspondence  to  v.^  is  otherwise  so 
close  that  we  should  expect  the  same  verb  which  is  used  there. 

*  Ew.  t  See  also  1 1^. 


VIII.  13-17  225 

The  form  of  torture  intended  is  probably  one  to  which  there  are 
numerous  references  in  Greek  authors,  and  which  has  survived  to 
modern  times  under  the  name  of  carding.  Thus  Croesus  is  said 
to  have  put  to  death  a  partisan  of  his  brother :  I-kX  Kva(J3ov  €Xko)v 
SucfiOcLpe  ;  *  and  in  Plato's  Inferno  the  very  worst  offenders,  such  as 
the  tyrant  Ardioeus,  are  tortured  in  this  way ;  f  see  note.  —  Budde 
suspects  that  the  words,  ^/te  elders  of  the  town  and,  are  a  gloss.  — 
17.  Gideon  carries  out.  his  threat  by  destroying  the  tower  of 
Penuel,  and  slays  the  inhabitants  of  the  place.  —  It  would  be 
hazardous  to  infer,  from  the  fact  that  the  chastisement  of  Succoth 
precedes  that  of  Penuel,  that  the  author  represented  Gideon  as 
returning  by  a  different  road  from  that  which  he  followed  in  the 
pursuit ;  it  would  be  not  unnatural  for  him  to  relate  the  fulfilment 
of  Gideon's  threats  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  made  (v.''-**), 
without  reflecting  that  on  his  way  back  he  would  come  to  Penuel 
first. 

13.  Dnnn  nV];D'?n]  ©avlmo  g  ^t^^^  dva^daem  Apes;  %  so  also  S.  Cf.  Jerome 
(^OS^.  963),  adscensus  Ares,  pro  quo  Aquila  interpretatur  saltmim,  Symmachus 
montium.  The  former  renders  ij'-inn  (cf.  i  S.  23I8  'A  ets  rhv  dpvfxdv),  which 
reminds  us  of  the  Moabite  names  cnn  -i-'p,  nunn  n"«p.  S  represents  cnnn; 
e  also  is  said  to  have  had  6povs;  the  word  Din  was  evidently  a  stumbhng- 
block,  as  in  i^^  (^^qq  Field  ad  loc.^.  rh'^r^  pass  i^^  Jos.  lO^o  15',  ©^^  dTrd  kird- 
vioOev  Apes  (rrjs  irapard^ews  2°  in  ^  is  an  accidental  repetition),  i.e.  r\^';r2hT2;  § 
but  this  would  require  Din'?.  Others  take  Dinn  appellatively;  so  IL  an^e  so/is 
ortuni ;  ||  ^,  Ra.,  before  the  sun  set;  Ki.  gives  us  the  choice  of  these  two 
renderings.  Neither  is  admissible ;  rh^'O  is  not  the  act  of  rising,  but  the  place 
where  or  by  which  one  goes  up,  pass,  steps,  &c.  (Schm.) ;  the  translation  of 
1^  confounds  the  word  with  Aram.  Syc,  from  a  different  root  (cf.  Dan.  6^^). 
If  we  interpret,  from  the  pass  of  Ileres,  it  will  be  necessary  to  emend  nS;;D!2; 
the  composite  preposition  is  consistent  only  with  the  interpretation  of  ©^  dirb 
iirdvwdev;  see  Stud.  — 14.  V^N  ^HDm]  2  S.  Ill*  ^c.;  cf.  'S  3PD  Dt.  24I  &c. 
There  is  as  httle  reason:  to  depart  from  the  usual  meaning  of  the  verb  as  there 
is  to  infer  from  it  that  the  Israelites  of  Gideon's  time  could  all  read  and 
write.  — 15,  D"ii3V"'!^]  v.^  Dio^jrn.  —  16.  niDD  ^'Cia  nx  dh^  ';yi\  the  Iliph.  of  j,n^ 
without  1  is  anomalous.^     (5  has  the  same  verbs  as  in  v."  (-^Xdrjaev  ^^,  Kari- 

*  Hdt.,  i.  ge;  Plut.,  de  malign.  Herod.,  p.  858.  f  Rep.,  x.  p.  616  A. 

X  ©^l  eni ;  cf.  I  in  ascensione  Hares.  ^  Cf.  Stud.,  Ew. 

II  Similarly,  RLbG.,  Abarb.  (he  turned  back  at  sunrise),  Vatabl.,  Tremell.,  Drus., 
Cler. 

If  In  Nu.  i65  the  spelling  may  intentionally  leave  the  choice  between  Kal  (tS) 
and  Hiph. 
9 


225  JUDGES 

iavev  -^^O  g)  J  *  so  also  %  contrivit  (with  the  doublet,  et  comminuii).  <S 
renders  estannad,  tortured.  %  presents  an  unusual  number  of  variants ;  ^^^-  2, 
Ra.,  Ki.  "13."^,  reuch.,m  -,-,j  ('drag'),  ^°*-  "'"'"»J  (v6"- 1  -n;,  typographical  error); 
all  seemingly  rendering  by  the  context.  He  taught  the  men  of  Succoth  a  lesson 
(Ew.,  er  ioitzigte\  would  be  well  enough;  but  the  unusual  form  in  |§  and  the 
evidence  of  the  versions  make  it  most  probable  that  the  author  wrote  uhM;  a 
mutilated  ::•  in  the  square  alphabet  might  easily  be  read  as  ;.  —  On  this  form 
of  torture  cf.  Hdt.,  i.  92;  Plut.,  de.  malign.  Herod.,  p.  858;  Aristoph.,  Acharn. 
319  f.,  with  the  Scholia;  Plat.,  Rep.  x.  p.  616  A;  Clem.  Alex.,  Strom,  v.  p.  700 
Potter;  esp.  Hesych.  s.v.  iwl  Kvd^oov  '^Xkwv  (Hdt.,  i.  92)  :  to  yap  irpoTepop  oi 
yvacpeis  aKavdQv  <j(i)pbv  (Tvarp^ipaPTes  to.  IfxdTLa  eTTt  tov  aiopov  eKvarrTOP-  6  8^ 
ffiopbs  iX^yero  ypdcpos'  6  odv  KpoT<ros  tSv  ix^P^^  '^^P'-^^^-^^  '^^^^  aKdvdais  Kai 
ovTcjs  6(p6€ipev.f  In  Jud.  8'-  ^^  the  LXX  rendering  of  the  verb  is  Kara^aivoj. 
On  carding  see  jVezv  English  Did.,  s.v.  Card  and  Carder. 

18-21.  Gideon  puts  Zebah  and  Zalmunna  to  death  to  avenge 
his  brothers,  whom  they  had  killed  in  their  foray.  — 18.  Having 
executed  his  threat  upon  Succoth  and  Penuel,  he  turns  on  his 
prisoners.  —  Where  are  the  men  luhom  you  killed  at  Tabor .?]  the 
menacing  question  shows  that  he  knows  what  they  have  done,  and 
challenges  an  avowal.  They  meet  it,  like  admirable  savages  as 
they  are,  with  a  boast :  They  were  just  such  men  as  you  ;  men  of 
kingly  figure.  %  Because  this  answer  does  not  formally  correspond 
to  the  question,  where  are  the  men,  many  interpreters  think  it 
necessary  to  make  the  question  correspond  to  the  answer,  and 
translate,  what  kind  of  men  were  those  that  you  slew  ?  §  but  this 
is  against  the  usage  of  the  particle,  and  much  tamer  than  what 
the  author  wrote.  —  Tabo7-'\  is  generally  understood  to  be  Mt. 
Tabor,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Great  Plain,  ||  or  a  village  of 
the  name  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountain.^  But  it  is  not  clear 
what  Gideon's  brothers  were  doing  up  there,  so  far  away  from  the 
seats  of  the  clan  ;  the  narrator  does  not  intimate  that  they  fell  in 
a  fight  with  the  Midianites,  but  rather  gives  the  impression  that 
they  were  murdered  at  their  homes.     Moreover,  the  author  of  this 


*  Kare'fai/ei'  Is  LXX,  as  a  comparison  of  ©N  with  B  in  the  light  of  B  shows, 
t  See  also  Schleusner,  Thesaurus,  s.v.  »caTa|atVw. 

X  The  spirit  of  this  answer  is  quite  lost  when  it  is  supposed  that  they  were  igno- 
rant of  Gideon's  relation  to  their  victims,  as  is  done  by  Stud,,  al. 
§  1L$,  EV.,  Be.,  al. 
II  See  on  46. 
II  Cf.  I  Chr.  6"  (lieb.  6C2)  Jos.  1922;  note  also  Aznoth-tabor,  Chisloth-tabor. 


VIII.   I8-2I  227 

chapter  (J)  seems  not  to  lay  the  scene  of  the  action  in  the  Plain 
of  Jezreel,  as  the  other  version  of  the  story  does,*  but  in  the 
vicinity  of  Shechem.  For  a  conjecture,  see  critical  note.  —  They 
were  just  like  thee']  the  nature  of  the  resemblance  is  defined  in 
the  next  words ;  it  was  their  princely  stature  and  mien  ;  cf.  i  S.  9^ 
iC'-^^"*  I  K.  i*^.  The  meaning  is  clear;  on  the  text  see  note. — 
19.  They  were  my  oivn  brothers  /]  sons  of  the  same  mother  as 
well  as  the  same  father ;  Gen.  43-"-*  Dt.  13^'  Cant.  8' ;  cf.  Gen.  20'-'. 
—  By  Yahweh,  if  you  had  spared  their  lives,  I  laould  not  have 
killed  you']  it  is  the  personal  wrong  that  whets  his  sword ;  brothers' 
blood  demands  vengeance.  —  20.  He  calls  on  Jether,  his  oldest 
son,  upon  whom,  after  himself,  the  blood  feud  devolved,  to  avenge 
his  uncle's  death.  For  the  boy  it  is  an  honour ;  for  the  captive 
kings  an  ignominy.  Jether  is  the  same  name  as  Jethro  (F^x.  4^*^). 
Besides  Moses'  Midianite  father-in-law,  it  occurs  as  the  name  of 
the  Ishmaelite  father  of  Amasa  (i  K.  2^  cf.  2  Chr.  2'^  2  S.  if'')\ 
also  of  families  of  Judah  (i  Chr.  2-^2  ^ir^  and  Asher  (i  Chr.  7^), 
and,  with  slight  variation  of  form,  of  an  Edomite  clan  (Gen.  36*). 
Commentators  have  felt  some  difficulty  in  explaining  how  this  boy 
came  to  be  among  the  picked  three  hundred  (  7^"^) .  In  reality  8*^- 
is  not  connected  with  ch.  7,  but  belongs  to  the  older  and  simpler 
version  in  which  Gideon's  followers  were  his  clansmen  of  Abiezer 
(6**) ;  Jether's  presence  in  the  expedition,  therefore,  need  occasion 
no  surprise.  It  is  more  than  likely,  moreover,  that  Gideon  led  his 
prisoners  home  in  triumph,  and  that  they  were  put  to  death  at 
Ophrah,  near  the  place  where  the  murder  had  been  committed.f 
The  boy  had  not  the  heart  to  draw  his  sword. — 21.  With  true 
Arab  spirit  the  captives  challenge  Gideon  to  give  the  death-stroke 
with  his  own  hand.  —  Slay  us  thyself,  for  a  man  has  a  man's 
strength']  lit.  as  the  man,  so  is  his  strength.  An  immature  boy  is 
not  to  be  expected  to  do  what  requires  a  man's  arm  and  a  man's 
heart.  Kimchi  and  others  conceive  the  meaning  to  be  that 
Jether  could  not  dispatch  them  outright,  but  would  hack  and 
mangle  them  in  his  weak  and  clumsy  efforts  to  kill.  |  —  Gideon 
kills  them  and  takes  their  spoil.  —  The  crescents  which  were  on 
the  necks  of  their  camels]  necklaces  or  collars  (v.-'*''),  the  elements 

*  633 ;  cf.  above,  p.  200.  t  Cass.  X  Stud. 


228  JUDGES 

of  which  were  Uttle  golden  crescents.  They  were  worn  by  men 
(v.^*^)  and  women  (Is.  3^^),*  and,  Hke  all  such  ornaments,  were 
originally  amulets. f  Riding  camels  are  still  often  decorated  with 
jingling  strings  of  cowrie  shells  and  metal  crescents.  In  the  O.T. 
camels  appear  only  in  the  possession  of  the  nomad  neighbours  of 
Israel  and  in  the  patriarchal  story  in  Genesis. 

18.  riD'x]  where.  Gen.  37I6  i  S.  1922  2  S.  (f  (in  all  10  times).  So  here 
©^,  Abarb.,  SS.  Other  renderings :  rive-i  ©^^  TrotoiSs,  quales  %^  a,  Ki.,  Lth., 
EV.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Ges.,  MV.,  BDB.,  al.  Stud.,  rightly  feeling  that 
it  is  hazardous  to  invent  a  new  meaning  for  the  particle  for  this  one  place, 
conj.  nrN  (cf.  Doom.);  but  no^N  {jivi  Tp6-jr(p,  see  on  20^)  is  found. only  before 
verbs,  and  is  not  used  in  the  sense  of  qualis.  If  the  explanation  given  in  the 
text  be  not  thought  sufficient,  the  most  natural  emendation  would  be  nisn  --d 
Gen.  27^"  &c.,  who^  then,  %vere  the  men.  —  DmcD  ^idd]  nominal  sentence,  lit., 
the  like  of  thee  is  the  like  of  them  ;  I  K.  22*  Gen.  iS^s  44I8  Nu.  151^  Dt.  i" 
Is.  242  Jos.  14II,  Roorda,  §  488;  cf.  Ges.25  §  118,  6.  — nSnn  >i2  nsn^  inx]  most 
modern  interpreters  take  nns  distributively,  each  one  resembled  the  children  of 
a  king;  AV.,  RV.,  with  Lth.,  Cler.,  Schm.  {tmusquisque  sicutfilii  regis).  Be., 
Ke.,  al.  mu.  But  nns  is  nowhere  used  in  this  way,  J  and  this  interpretation  did 
not  suggest  itself  to  any  of  the  ancient  translators  or  commentators.  (Q^%'E 
render  unus  ex  eis ;  (gBNAPVO  g  0  ^  do  not  represent  nnN  at  all.  Ra.  (alt.), 
Ki.,  Stud.,  connect  it  with  the  preceding  as  adverbial  accusative,  lit.,  thy 
likeness  was  their  likeness^  all  one ;  but  for  this  again  there  is  no  analogy. 
The  text  can  hardly  be  sound;  the  simplest  emendation  is  probably  nnx  So. — 
nsn  *  figure,  stature,  bodily  presence.'  —  At  Tabor']  niDn  pSx  i  S.  lo-^,  not  far 
from  Bethel,  §  is  as  much  too  far  to  the  south  as  Mt.  Tabor  to  the  north.  It 
may  perhaps  be  suspected  that  the  true  name  of  the  place  where  Gideon's 
brothers  were  killed  is  preserved  in  9^'^  (v>xn  m3tp),  and  that  it  has  been 
changed  here  to  nnn  in  conformity  with  the  representation  of  6^^^  — 19^  ,|-, 
nini]  a  common  form  of  oath;  lit.  Yahweh  is  living;  Ges.^^  §  149.  —  oninn  h 
"TJ-in  nS  .  .  .]  cf.  1323,  iS  with  pf.  in  hypothesis  contrary  to  reality;  Dr*. 
§139;  Ges.25  p.  482.  Obs.  the  pf.  in  apodosis  also;  they  are  already  as  good 
as  dead,  n^nn  '  spare,  let  live,'  Nu.  22^^  2  S.  8^  &c.  —  20.  ini]  =  nn>  Ex.  4^^. 
—  21.  1P-I12J  c-iND  13]  in  the  s»nse  in  which  we  have  translated  the  words 
{quia  juxta  aetatem  robur  est  hominis  3L),  innuj  p  would  be  expected;  but 
the  ellipsis  may  be  possible.  (^^^  8ti  ws  dvdpbs  rj  dvpafxls  (tov.  —  D-'J^nr]  \.^^ 
Is.  3^8 1_  'pi^g  word  is  connected  with  Aram.  Syr.  Nnno  *  moon,'  and  both  name 
and  thing  appear  to  be  of  foreign  origin. 


•  See  Schroeder,  De  vestitu  mulieriim^  p.  33-44 ;  Hartmann,  Die  Hebrderin,  ii. 
P-  26s  ff.  t  Cf.  Gen.  354, 

X  The  examples  alleged,  such  as  i  K.  5^  2  K.  1520,  are  essentially  different;  they 
all  have  the  distributive  '7.  ^  See  above  on  ^\  p.  113. 


VIII.    21-22  229 

22,  23.  Gideon  declines  the  kingdom.  —  The  Israelites  offer  to 
make  Gideon  and  his  descendants  hereditary  rulers ;  he  refuses 
out  of  religious  scruple.  This  does  not  agree  with  the  represen- 
tation of  J  in  the  preceding  narrative,  in  which  Gideon  and  his 
clansmen  of  Abiezer  act  for  themselves  and  by  themselves  :  the 
men  of  Israel  appear  on  the  scene  quite  unexpectedly ;  *  we 
must  imagine  them  convoked  for  the  express  purpose.!  The 
refusal,  v.^\  is  at  variance  also  with  ch.  9,  from  which  we  see  that 
Jerubbaal  had,  at  least  in  the  vicinity  of  Shechem,  an  authority 
which  would  in  natural  course  devolve  to  his  sons.  |  IT  v.^-  '^ 
belong  to  either  of  the  two  sources  which  we  have  tried  to  sepa- 
rate in  ch.  6-9,  it  must  be  to  E,  in  which  the  tribes  of  Manasseh 
and  Ephraim,  and  perhaps  others,  take  part  in  the  campaign. 
For  this  origin  of  the  verses  we  may  also  adduce  i  S.  8^  10^'''  12^^ 
(E),in  which  the  same  condemnation  of  the  kingdom,  as  con- 
flicting with  the  sovereignty  of  Yahweh,  is  expressed  in  very 
similar  terms.  §  A  later  writer  (D)  ||  would  have  no  visible  motive 
for  introducing  the  offer  and  rejection  of  the  kingdom  in  this 
place.  If  E  is  the  author  of  the  verses,  they  must  have  stood  in 
his  narrative  after  8^"^ ;  the  editor  who  combined  y-'^-S^  with  8*"^^ 
(Rje)  would  be  constrained  to  transpose  them  to  their  present 
place.  To  this  hypothesis  it  may  be  objected,  that  the  author 
who  represented  the  Ephraimites  as  meeting  the  victor  in  such  a 
truculent  mood  (8^'^)  can  hardly  have  conceived  of  their  turning 
around  and  offering  to  make  him  king.  If  8^""^  are  genuine,  as  I 
have  tried  to  show,  the  only  answer  would  be  that  8"^-  ^  belong  to 
a  secondary  stratum  in  E  (Eo),  to  which  we  might  then  perhaps 
ascribe  7^  also.  This,  again,  would  have  the  support  of  the  cor- 
responding passages  in  Samuel,  which  are  commonly  attributed  to 
Eg.  —  22.  The  men  of  Israel~\  the  body  of  freemen  who  formed  the 
army ;  cf.  y^'*  (f^.  What  tribes  the  author  meant  to  represent  as 
taking  part  in  this  assembly  can  hardly  be  determined  ;  Manasseh 
and  Ephraim  pretty  certainly,  possibly  also  the  others  named  in 
7^.  —  Rtile  over  us\   9^;   cf.  reign  in  Jotham's  fable  (^^loi^. m^^ 

*  In  7I4  in  the  mouth  of  the  Midianite  the  phrase  has  a  different  connotation, 
t  Contrast  i  S.  iii2ff.  +  We. 

$  See  Vatke,  Alttest.  Theol.,  p.  263  f. ;  We..  Comp.,  p.  227 ;  Co.,  Einl^.  p.  95  f. 
II  Kitt. 


230  JUDGES 

We  should  hardly  attribute  any  significance  to  the  fact  that  the 
latter  word  is  not  used  here;*  what  they  offer  him  and  his 
descendants  is  in  fact  a  kingdom,  differing  by  the  hereditary  prin- 
ciple from  the  purely  personal  authority  of  the  Judge  {shophet). 
— Because  thou  hast  delivered  its']  cf.  lo^^  ii^  ^  To  deliver  his 
people  in  war  is  the  very  caUing  of  a  king ;  i  S.  9^^  Is.  2,f^  &c.  — 
23.  /  wi/l  not  rule  over  you,  7ior  shall  my  son  rule  over  you ; 
Yahweh  shall  rule  over  you^^  cf.  i  S.  12^-17.19  §7  j^u)  j^os.  13'*^^ 
9^  lo^  The  condemnation  of  the  kingdom  as  in  principle  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  sovereignty  of  Yahweh,  the  divine  king,  appears 
to  date  from  the  last  age  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  those  terrible 
years  of  despotism,  revolution,  and  anarchy  which  intervened 
between  the  death  of  Jeroboam  II.  and  the  fall  of  Samaria,  when 
history  seemed  to  write  large  the  words  of  Yahweh  by  a  prophet 
of  the  time  :  Thou  saidst  give  me  a  king  and  princes  ;  I  give  thee 
a  king  in  my  anger  and  take  him  away  in  my  fury.f  It  first 
appears  in  Hosea  and  in  the  Ephraimite  historians  of  his  time  or 
a  little  later  (Eg).! 

On  v.22f-  see  Wellhausen,  Comp.,  p.  226  f.;  Stade,  GVI.  i.  p.  190  f.; 
Kuenen,  HCC^.  i.  p.  348;  Budde,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  115-117;  Kittel,  GdH. 
i.  2.  p.  73  f.  (cf.  p.  5);  Cornill,  Einl^.  p.  95  f.;  Wildeboer,  Letterktmde, 
p.  99.  —  We.  and  Sta.  (cf.  also  Kue.,  Kitt.)  surmise  that  in  the  original 
narrative  the  kingdom  was  not  only  offered,  but  accepted;  a  later  editor 
corrected  this  in  a  theocratic  spirit  (v. 23). — 23.  On  the  gods  as  kings  in 
Semitic  religions,  see  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  66  ff.  The 
sovereignty  of  Yahvi^eh  was,  of  course,  universally  recognized  in  old  Israel 
(cf.  e.g.  Jud.  5) ;  the  whole  development  of  the  religion  presupposes  this 
principle.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  acknowledge  Yahweh  as  the  divine  king,  as 
Isaiah,  for  example,  does,  §  and  quite  a  different  thing  to  conclude  that  he 
cannot  endure  the  existence  of  a  human  king  in  Israel.  This  is  by  no  means 
a  necessary  theological  inference;  it  must  have  had  a  definite  historical  reason 
such  as  the  experience  of  Israel  in  the  8th  century  afforded. 

24-27.  The  origin  of  the  idol  at  Ophrah.  — At  Gideon's 
recjuest  the  warriors  give  him  the  rings  which  they  have  taken 
from   the   fallen   Midianites.      Of   this   gold    he   makes   an   idol 

•  Observe  that  rule  is  employed  in  v.2S  also,  of  Yahweh's  sovereignty,  and  in  922 
of  Abimelech.  f  Hos.  \^^^- 

X  Vatke,  Alttest.  TheoL,  p.  478  n. ;  We.,  Sta.,  Co.,  Bu.,  Smend,  Alttest.  Reli- 
gionsgesch.,  p.  193  f.  §  Is.  6^;  see  Smend,  p.  205. 


VTTT    22-26 


231 


{ephod)  which  he  sets  up  at  Ophrah.  The  Israehtcs  worship 
it ;  and  it  becomes  a  cause  of  evil  to  Gideon  and  his  family.  — 
The  making  of  the  ephod  which  stood  in  the  holy  place  at  Ophrah 
may  very  well  have  been  narrated  in  J  ;  it  was  a  famous  trophy 
of  the  great  victory  over  Midian.  The  latter  part  of  v.-*^,  which 
makes  it  a  cause  of  apostasy  to  Israel  and  of  ruin  to  the  house  of 
Gideon,  expresses  a  very  different  feeling  toward  it;  both  the 
thought  and  the  language  betray  a  later  writer  (cf.  2'',  2''). 
Verse  -^-^'^  are  ascribed  by  Kuenen,  Budde,  and  others  to  the  older 
narrative,  which  spoke  of  the  ephod  without  a  suspicion  of  dis- 
approval.* The  verses  are,  however,  closely  connected  with  v.--* , 
and  in  this  connexion,  as  well  as  in  the  additions  to  v.^*"',  the  hand 
of  the  editor  must  be  recognized.  —  24.  Let  me  make  a  request 
of  you']  the  words  coimect  very  naturally  with  v.''^^- ;  he  declines 
the  kingdom  which  in  their  gratitude  for  deliverance  they  offer 
him,  but  asks  of  them  the  golden  ornaments  they  have  stripped 
from  the  slain.  If  v.^^-  are  rightly  ascribed  to  a  different  author 
from  v.-^-^%t  the  beginning  of  v.^"*  must  have  been  harmonized  by 
the  editor  who  combined  them  (Rje).  In  J  the  request  could 
only  be  addressed  to  Gideon's  followers,  the  Abiezrites.  —  £7'ery 
man  give  7ne  the  ring  of  his  spoil]  ear-rings  are  probably  meant ; 
nose-rings  appear  in  the  O.T.  only  as  women's  adornments.  — 
They  wore  gold  rings,  for  they  were  Ishmaelites]  Ishmaelite  seems 
to  be  used  here  not  of  the  race,  but  of  the  mode  of  life,  Bedawin. 
In  the  genealogical  systems,  the  Midianites  belong  to  a  different 
branch  of  the  Abrahamidae  from  the  Ishmaelites  ;  see  on  6\  We 
are  to  infer  that  such  ornaments  were  not  worn  by  the  settled 
tribes.  J  The  half-verse  is  perhaps  a  gloss.  —  25.  They  willingly 
accede  to  his  request ;  a  mantle  is  spread  on  the  ground,  and  the 
rings  they  had  stripped  from  the  slain  are  thro^vn  into  it.  The 
mantle  {si?nlah)  was  a  wide  outer  garment  or  wrapper.  It  could 
readily  be  converted  into  a  sack  by  bringing  the  corners  together 
and  tying  them ;  cf.  Ex.  1 2^^  Prov.  30''.  —  26.    The  weight  of  the 


*  Cf.  Kitt.  In  V.26  the  list  of  spoils  has  been  lengthened  by  other  hands  (Bu.). 
We.  and  Sta.  consider  the  whole  passage,  v.22-27^  a  later  addition.  See  the  authors 
cited  above  on  v.22f.,  p.  230.  f  Kue.,  Co.,  Kitt. ;  cf.  Bu. 

X  The  caravan-traders,  whose  connexions  extended  to  the  gold  lands  of  Arabia, 
were  far  richer  in  such  things  than  the  peasants. 


232  JUDGES 

gold  rings  amounted  to  seventeen  hundred  shekels,  not  far  from 
seventy  pounds.  The  figures  are  not  excessively  large,  even  if 
they  represent  the  spoil  of  Gideon's  three  hundred  men  ;  a  single 
ring  might  often  weigh  half  a  shekel  (cf  Gen.  24'").  —  Not 
including  the  crescents,  and  the  pendants,  and  the  purple  garments 
worn  by  the  kifigs  of  Midian']  cf.  v.-^  The  half-verse  is  an  edi- 
torial exaggeration  such  as  we  have  noted  in  a  number  of  other 
places.  This  catalogue  of  things  which  were  not  used  in  making 
the  ephod  is  quite  superfluous,  and  only  interrupts  the  narrative.* 
—  Crescents  and  pefidatits']  coupled  in  the  same  way  in  Is.  3^^*, 
the  only  other  place  where  the  latter  word  occurs.  The  transla- 
tion/(?;/^/(?;z/j'  (?  ^^r-drops)  is  suggested  by  the  etymology;  just 
what  kind  of  jewelry  is  meant  cannot  be  certainly  known ;  on  the 
crescents,  see  on  v.-\  —  The  purple  garments  worn  by  the  ki7igs  of 
Midian~\  the  spoils  of  the  kings  naturally  fell  to  the  leader  of  the 
expedition  (v.-^).  Purple  robes  are  the  badge  of  royalty;  but 
would  J  imagine  the  Bedawin  chiefs  riding  to  a  foray  in  their 
robes  of  state  ?  —  The  necklaces  that  were  on  the  necks  of  their 
camels']  \?^.  Budde  sees  in  these  words  the  only  genuine  part 
of  V.-''''',  and  regards  v.^^^^  as  a  gloss,  explaining  in  an  unnecessary 
way  how  Gideon  got  these  crescents.!  Wellhausen  and  Stade, 
on  the  contrary,  rightly  hold  v."^  to  be  genuine,  and  the  whole  of 
v.^'''  secondary ;  observe  the  substitution  of  the  general  necklaces 
for  the  rare  and  characteristic  cresce^its.  The  author  of  v.-^''  wished 
to  enumerate  all  that  fell  to  Gideon  in  the  distribution,  as  well  as 
what  was  given  him  at  his  request  by  the  people,  regardless  of  the 
inappropriateness  of  the  inventory  in  this  place.  —  27.  Gideon 
?nade  it  into  an  ephod]  the  ephod  was  made  of  the  gold  rings  of 
the  Midianites  (v.^"'  -'^"')  ;  %  v?^'^  is  obviously  a  gloss ;  see  above. 
Ephod  is  the  specific  name  of  a  kind  of  idol;  cf.  if  18^*  &c. 
Hos.  3*.  §  This  appears  here  from  the  material,  and  the  quantity 
of  it  employed,  as  well  as  from  the  verb,  place.  That  it  was  so 
understood  by  the  editor  is  evident  from  his  comment,  all  Israel 
went  whoring  after  it,  his  standing  expression  for  heathenish  or 
idolatrous  worship.      The  ephod  seems  to  have   been  peculiarly 

♦  Especially  the  purple  robes.  f  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p,  116. 

J  The   rings  were   amulets   (Gen.  354;    cf.  the   Aram.   N-'ip)  ;    the   gold   was 
already  holy.  ^  Procop.,  fxavrtlov  ^  eifiwAoi/. 


VIII.  26-29  233 

an  oracular  idol;  see  more  fully  on  if.  —  And  placed  ii  in  his 
native  city,  Ophrah']  where  it  remained  to  later  times.  On  the 
verb  see  note.  —  All  Israel  went  astray  after  it~\  2'';  it  became 
the  object  of  an  idolatrous  cult,  in  which  Israelites  from  all  parts 
of  the  land  participated.  —  And  it  became  a  snare  to  Gideon  and 
his  family~\  2^ ;  the  cause  of  the  ruin  that  overtook  his  house. 
The  clauses  are  an  editorial  addition,  expressing  the  judgement  of 
a  later  time,  and  have  possibly  supplanted  the  original  close  of  the 
sentence.  —  28.  Closing  formulas  of  the  editor;  see  on  3'^^  — 
And  did  not  lift  its  head  again"]  Zech.  i-^ ;  their  power  and  spirit 
were  completely  broken  by  their  defeat.  —  29.  And  Jerublmal 
ben  Joash  went  and  dwelt  at  his  home]  the  verse  stands  singu- 
larly out  of  place.  That  the  making  and  setting  up  of  the  idol 
at  Ophrah  is  related  before  his  return  home,  might  perhaps  be 
explained  by  supposing  that  the  writer  wished  to  finish  at  once 
telling  what  was  done  with  the  spoils  of  the  Midianites ;  but  v.^ 
brings  the  story  of  Gideon  to  a  formal  close,  v.^  cannot  stand 
after  it.  Budde  conjectures  that  v.^  originally  stood  after  S"*, 
being  the  conclusion  of  the  first  of  the  two  stories  of  the  rout 
of  Midian ;  from  this  place  it  was  necessarily  removed  when  Z^^ 
was  combined  with  7^^-8^.  If  8-^*"-  be  from  the  same  source,  place 
must  be  made  for  them  between  8^  and  8^.* 

24.  nSxty]  cognate  object.  —  uni]  imv.  corresponding  to  the  preceding 
impf.  energ.;  and  do  you  give. — dtj]  nose-xva^  is  ordinarily  ^Nn  ctj  (H'"*  ^> 
'S£3,  tiN3),  Gen.  2422  (Sam.)  ^7  is.  321  Ez.  1612  Prov.  1122.  Cf.  Jerome  on 
Ez.  I.e.  {_Opp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  v.  155);  Hartmann,  Hebrderin,  iii,  p.  205. — 
25.  pj  pnj]  certainly,  we  will  give  them  ;  emphasizing  the  willingness  with 
which  they  accede  to  his  request;  cf.  4^^.  —  nSnu'n]  the  particular  one  taken 
for  the  purpose,  and  made  definite  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  by  that  fact;  cf. 
on  7!^  Ges.25  §  126,  4;  Davidson,  Syntax,  §  21  e.  —  26.  The  omission  of  the 
unit  of  measure  {shekel)  is  common;  cf.  9*  172-3.4  &c.  —  a^nncn]  see  on  v.21. 
—  mi3''!0jni]  the  ancient  versions  took  the  word  as  the  name  of  some  kind  of 
necklace  or  coUar.f  Some  Jewish  interpreters  connected  it  with  q-Jj  Ex.  30** 
(o-Ta/cTiy),  and  explain,  capsules  in  which  this  sweet-smelling  gum  was  worn 
(older  scholars  quoted  by  Ki.,  RLbG.,  al.) ;  so  Schm.,  Buxtorf.  Abulwalid 
suggests  that  it  may  be  equivalent  to  the  Arab.  natafat'"\  a  small,  clear  pearl 
(from  its  resemblance  to  a  drop  of  water),  or  a  bead  of  gold  or  silver  (origi- 
nally of  spherical  or  elongated  form)  fastened  to  the  lobe  of  the  ear,  ear-drop ; 

*  For  an  alternative  hypothesis,  sec  note  below, 
t  Only  ST  N"''?^'?d,  diadems,  chaplcts. 


234  JUDGES 

cf.  (TTaXdyfJLiov.  This  interpretation  is  adopted  by  Schroeder,  JDMich.  (pearls), 
Ges.  7yies.,  Stud.;  others  simply,  ear-drops  (Be.,  Reuss,  al.)".  See  esp.  Schroe- 
der, De  vestitu  mulicrum,  p.  45-56.  —  tDJ-iNn  njj]  the  colour  is  a  red  pur- 
ple, not  violet:  see  PUn.,  n.  h.  ix.  133-135;  Delitzsch,  PREP',  iv.  p.  490  ff". 
The  name  is  foreign;  cf.  Assyr.  argamannu,  Fr.  Del.,  Assyr.  Hwb.,  p.  129.* 
The  dye  was  extremely  costly  (Plin.,  n.  h.  ix.  124).  — T^']  see  on  6^^ 
observe -irN  immediately  after.  —  27.  ni3x]  on  the  etymology  and  meaning 
of  this  word,  see  note  on  17^.— r:«n]  63^  Gen.  3088  i  S.  52  2  S.  6I".— 28.  ^D^D 
p>'ij]  Bu.  would  emend  'J  ^d>  Sd,  after  2I8.  — 29.  Jerubbaal^  if  the  verses 
came  originally  from  E,  we  should  probably  have  to  assume  that  Jerubbaal 
had  been  substituted  for  Gideon  by  an  editor.  An  alternative  would  be  to 
suppose  that  the  account  of  the  making  of  the  ephod  comes  from  Ei  (instead 
of  J,  as  in  our  analysis  above);  v.^^  -would  then  be  the  conclusion  of  J's  story, 
following  immediately  upon  \P-.  This  hypothesis  would  also  better  explain 
the  intimate  connexion  which  now  exists  between  v.'^^f-  ^nd  v.2*-3''. 

30-35. t  Verses ^■■'^  belong  to  the  Deuteronomic  framework  of 
the  book  ;  thought  and  expression  correspond  to  those  of  D  in 
2i2fl.  ^r  ^ggg  below).  What  these  verses  contain  in  addition  to  the 
author's  pragmatic  formulas ;  viz.,  that  the  Israehtes  adopted  the 
worship  of  the  Shechemite  Baal-berith  (v.*^''),  and  their  ungrate- 
ful treatment  of  Jerubbaal's  family  (v.'^),  is  derived  from  ch.  9. 
These  notices  are  inserted  not  as  an  introduction  to  ch.  9,  X  but  as 
a  substitute  for  it.  §  Ch.  9,  as  will  appear  below,  was  not  included 
by  D  in  his  Book  of  Judges.  The  story  of  Abimelech  and  the 
Shechemites  did  not  naturally  fall  into  his  scheme  of  apostasy, 
oppression,  and  deliverance  ;  its  moral  was  of  a  different  kind. 
He  therefore  omitted  it,  only  taking  the  worship  of  Baal-berith 
as  an  instance  of  the  chronic  lapse  into  heathenism,  and  summing 
up  the  rest  in  v.""^,  as  a  proof  of  Israel's  ingratitude  to  their 
defender,  matching  their  forgetfulness  of  the  divine  deliverer. 

Verses ■'^^"'^-,  on  the  contrary,  form  an  introduction  to  the  story  of 
Abimelech ;  some  such  preparation  is  presupposed  in  9^,  where 
Abimelech  first  appears  upon  the  scene.  In  their  present  form, 
however,  these  verses  can  hardly  be  attributed  to  the  author  of 

•  We  should  naturally  expect  the  name  of  this  colour  to  be  of  Phoenician 
origin,  and  to  have  come  to  the  Assyrians  from  the  West,  rather  than  from  the 
Assyrians  to  the  Hebrews;  and  though  we  cannot  at  present  prove  this,  it  is  the 
safer  assumption.     So  also  G.  Hoffmann,  Z.  A.  1894,  p.  337  f. 

t  On  these  verses  see  especially  Buddc,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  119-122. 

\  So  most  recent  critics.  ^S  Bu. 


VTTT.  30-33  235 

ch.  9  ;  more  than  one  phrase  in  them  suggests  rather  a  writer  famil- 
iar with  the  Priestly  narrative  in  Genesis.*  There  is  no  trace  of  a 
Deuteronomic  hand.  In  view  of  these  facts,  the  hypothesis  of 
Budde  is  the  most  acceptable  which  has  been  proposed.  It  is 
that  the  final  editor  (Rp)  restored  ch.  9,  which  Rd  had  omitted, 
prefixing  to  it  this  introduction  (v.^^-^^^,  the  substance  of  which  he 
derived  from  the  pre-deuteronomic  source  in  which  he  found  the 
story  of  Abimelech.  To  this  source  probably  belonged  also  the 
notice  of  the  burial  of  Jerubbaal ;  cf.  2'-*.  —  30.  Now  GUcon  had 
seventy  sons'\  the  number,  92- «•  i«- -'4.  se .  ^^^  Abdon's  seventy  sons  and 
grandsons  (12"),  Jair's  thirty  sons  (10^),  &c. — Who  issued  from 
his  loins']  lit.  thigh;  Gen.  46^'^  Ex.  i^  cf.  Gen.  35^^  {Vy .  —  For  he 
had  many  wives']  the  numerous  hareem  is  an  evidence  of  his 
wealth  and  power;  see  below  on  9^.  —  31.  His  concubine  who 
lived  in  Shecheni]  9^-  ^  ^^  The  woman  was  evidently  a  Canaanite, 
and  a  free  woman  (see  9^-^),  notwithstanding  Jotham's  fling  (9^*). 
The  relation  of  Jerubbaal  to  her  was  probably  like  that  of  Samson 
to  his  Philistine  wife  at  Timnath,  a  sadtqa  marriage  ;  see  on  I4'^t 
—  He  gave  him  the  name  Abimelech]  the  name  is  not  to  be  inter- 
preted, '  My  father  (Jerubbaal)  is  king ' :  as  in  all  similar  cases, 
Melek  is  a  divine  title  or  name ;  cf.  Abimelech,  Elimelech, 
Nathanmelech ;  also  Malchishua,  &c.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
whether  we  should  explain  the  name,  '  Melek  (the  god-king)  is 
(my)  father,'  or  '  Father  of  Melek  * ;  the  latter,  impossible  as  it 
sounds  to  our  ears,  is  not  without  analogy  in  Semitic  proper 
names ;  see  note.  For  the  worshipper  of  Yahweh,  he  is  the 
King ;    for    the    Canaanites    of    Shechem,    their    Baal-berith.  — 

32.  At  a  good  old  age]  the  phrase  occurs  only  in  Gen.  15^^  (K-p) 
25^^  (P)  I  Chr.  29-^  —  A7id  was  buried  in  the  tomb  of  Joash 
his  father]  cf.    2^  =  Jos.    24^".  —  In   Ophrah]   see   crit.   note.  — 

33.  On  v.^"^  see  above,  p.  234.  —  As  soon  as  Gideon  died]  cor- 
responding to  the  general  theory  of  D  (2^^);  the  death  of  the 
judge  was  always  the  signal  for  a  lapse  into  heathenism  ;  cf.  x^-  ''"^^ 
3"-^',  4^  —  The  Israelites  again  apostatized  to  heathenism]  lit. 
returned  and  we7it  whorifig  after  the  baals.     Cf.  v.^''  2'^;  Ex.  34"^- 


*  Observe,  issuing  from  his  loins  (v.^o) ;  a  fine  old  age  (v.*^) ;  see  comm.  on  the  w, 
t  Bu.,  p.  121 ;  cf.  W.  R.  Smith,  Kinship  and  Marriage,  ch.  3;  asp.  p.  76. 


236  JUDGES 

Dt.  3I^^  The  phrase  is  not  that  used  by  D  in  the  Hexateuch 
{other  gods,  2^^-^'**  &c.) ;  it  may  have  been  chosen  here  with  refer- 
ence to  the  worship  of  Baal-berith,  v,''.  On  the  baals,  see  on 
2"- 13^  —  And  made  Baal-berith  their  god^  specification  to  the 
general  charge.  Baal-berith,  in  9^*^  called  El-berith,  was  the  god 
of  Shechem,  where  he  had  a  temple  g*'^^*  The  author  of  8*^ 
evidently  assumes  that  the  people  of  Shechem  were  Israelites, 
and  generahzes  the  local  worship  of  Baal-berith  into  a  defection 
of  Israel  as  a  whole.  Nothing  is  clearer,  however,  in  ch.  9  than 
that  the  population  of  Shechem  was  Canaanite ;  the  insurrection 
fomented  by  Gaal  is  a  rising  of  the  native  inhabitants  against 
the  rule  of  the  half- Israelite  Abimelech  ;  see  esp.  v.^.  —  34.  Did 
not  remember  Yahweh  their  go d'\  cf.  3^  —  Who  resetted  them  from 
the  power  of  all  their  enemies  on  all  sides']  cf.  i  S.  12"  10^^ ;  with 
the  last  phrase,  Jud.  2^^  Dt.  12^*^  25^^  Jos.  23^  i  Chr.  22^  — 
35.  And  were  not  good  to  the  fainily  of  Jerubbaal]  the  substance 
of  Jotham's  accusation  (9^^-^^) ;  as  in  the  foregoing  verses  (v.^**), 
what  the  Shechemites  did  is  laid  to  the  charge  of  all  Israel.  Deal 
well  with  one,  requite  good  with  good,  Gen.  21^  Jos.  2^-  Jud.  i^^ 
— Jeriibbaal  Gideon]  the  name  Jerubbaal  alone  is  used  in  ch.  9  ; 
Gideon  alone  in  ch.  8  (except  v.^)  ;  on  the  margin  between  the 
two,  one  name  is  glossed  by  the  other.  As  the  author  draws 
directly  from  9^^,  he  may  have  written  Jerubbaal  here,  though  in 
v.*'^  he  writes  Gideon ;  comp.  on  f-. 

30.  vn  \\;-\hy\  cf.  iS  vn  niai  d^U'j  >d;  it  is  all  in  the  past. —31.  iifjS^Di] 
19  passim,  20*- ^-6;  in  9^^  Jotham  says  innx.  Di.  (on  Gen.  25*^)  has  observed 
that  in  Gen.  tyjS^Q  is  more  than  once  introduced  by  R.  —  N^n  aj]  Gen.  422.26 
ig38  222'^  — iDty  PN  Dt'M]  cf.  2  K.  1*]^  Nch.  9''  Dan.  i"  5I2  (late;  Bu.).— 
I^don]  Gen.  20  21  26;  cf.  iSn^nN  (i  S.  21  2  S.  8i^),t  and  the  Phoenician 
names  I'^cn,  and  especially  "iSdhpn  ("iSonn).  In  the  last  the  grammatical 
relation  is  unambiguous;  the  name  is,  Sister  of  Milk  (Melek).  Ahimelech 
is  accordingly,  Brother  of  Melek,  not,  My  brother  is  Melek,  and  Abimelech, 
Father  of  Melek.  J  32.  njio  n:!^!^^]  Gen.  15I6  258  i  Chr.  2928.  — on  n-ic>o 
"'"^^>''']  grammatically  incorrect.  Doom,  would  emend  moj'a  (62*)  ;  Kautzsch 
(Ges.2i  p.  401)  suggests  that  ."no>'3  should  stand  either  after  lap^i  or  at  the 
end  of  the  verse.     Another  possibility  is  that  njyn  ^dn  is  a  gloss  from  6^4,  to 

*  See  comm.  on  9*. 

t  Other  compounds  of  Melek,  sec  Baethgen,  Beitrdge  p.  146, 

X  Noldeke,  ZDMG.  xlii.  1888,  p.  480;  cf.  Phoen.  mna'yDN,  Mother  of  Astarte. 


VIII.  33-35-  IX.  237 

which   the   preceding  word   was   not   brought   into   grammatical   accord.  — 
33.    pp-\J  '^>'3"i"']  even  as  a  gloss  we  should  require  |i;nj  Nin;   cf.  @«N' ni-  ^. 

IX.  Abimelech  and  the  men  of  Shechem.  —  Abimelech,  the 
half-Canaanite  son  of  Jerubbaal,  persuades  the  people  of  Shechem 
to  have  him  for  their  ruler  in  preference  to  the  other  sons  of  his 
father.  Abetted  by  them,  he  kills  his  brothers,  —  Jotham,  the 
youngest,  alone  escaping  the  slaughter,  —  and  is  made  king  in  She- 
chem (v.^"'').  Jotham  in  a  fable  vents  his  contemptuous  opinion  of 
their  new  lord,  upbraids  them  for  their  base  ingratitude  to  Jerub- 
baal their  defender,  pronounces  a  curse  upon  them  and  their  king, 
and  flees  (v.'^"-^) .  After  three  years  the  Shechemites  fall  out  with 
Abimelech ;  an  insurrection  is  fomented  by  one  Gaal,  a  new- 
comer (v.^--^).  Abimelech,  apprised  of  the  situation  by  the 
governor  of  the  city,  comes  with  his  soldiers ;  Gaal  goes  out  to 
fight  with  him ;  is  beaten  and  driven  back  into  the  city,  only  to  be 
cast  out  by  the  governor  (v.^°-^^).  In  a  second  day's  fighting, 
Abimelech  takes  the  place  by  stratagem,  puts  the  inhabitants  to 
the  sword,  and  destroys  the  city  (v.'^"'^).  The  people  of  the 
neighbouring  Tower  of  Shechem  take  refuge  in  the  temple  of 
El-berith ;  Abimelech  burns  it  over  their  heads  (v.'*^"''^) .  While 
besieging  Thebez,  Abimelech  is  fatally  hurt  by  a  millstone  which  a 
woman  threw  from  the  wall,  and  dies  by  the  sword  of  his  armour- 
bearer.     So  Jotham's  curse  is  fulfilled  (v.^^-^^. 

The  character  of  the  narrative  as  a  whole  displays  a  striking 
affinity  to  8^-^^ ;  of  the  pragmatism  which  pervades  large  parts  of 
ch.  6.  7  there  is  no  trace.*  We  should  be  inchned,  therefore,  in 
conformity  to  our  analysis  of  the  preceding  chapters,  to  ascribe  it 
to  J-t  Budde,  on  the  contrary,  derives  it  from  E,  who,  in  retelling 
the  old  folk-story,  introduced  of  his  own  invention  the  fable  of 

Jotham  (v.^-^O- 1 

The  unity  of  the  chapter  has  hitherto  been  almost  unquestioned. 
It  is,  however,  not  unquestionable.  There  are  clearly  two  accounts 
of  the  origin  of  hostilities  between  Abimelech  and  the  Shechem- 
ites.    In  v.^-^  an  evil  spirit  sent  by  God  stirs  up  the  Shechemites ; 


*  Stud.,  We.,  Co.  t  Schrader-De  Wette,  Einl^.  §  209. 

+  To  Ethe  chapter  is  attributed  by  Bruston  also  (Bu.,  p.  ii8  n.).    On  Jotham's 
fable,  Kue.,  HCCf^.  i.  p.  349.     See  further  in  crit.  note  below. 


238  JUDGES 

their  armed  bands  rob  all  who  pass  through  their  territory :  in 
v.^®  a  family  of  new-comers,  headed  by  Gaal,  incite  a  revolt  by 
appeals  to  race- pride  and  hatred.  The  sequel  of  the  first  of  these 
accounts  is  found  in  v.*-"''^ ;  Abimelech  lays  an  ambush  against 
the  city,  takes  and  destroys  it :  that  of  the  second  is  v.^-''^  We 
obtain  thus  two  complete  narratives,  and  the  confused  repetitions 
of  the  story  as  it  now  stands  disappear.  The  fable  of  Jotham 
(v.^'-^)  is  cognate  to  the  first  of  these  two  narratives,  and  carries 
with  it  its  premises  in  v.^"^ ;  from  this  source  v.^^-  also  is  derived. 
If  our  observation  is  correct,  the  version  of  the  story  in  which 
Gaal  plays  the  leading  part  may  be  ascribed  to  J  ;  the  other  to  E. 
No  traces  of  D's  hand  are  discoverable  in  the  chapter.  The 
story  of  Gideon  is  concluded  in  the  usual  way  in  8^ ;  the  intro- 
duction to  the  story  of  Jephthah,  lo*^^-,  follows.  We  must  infer 
from  the  absence  of  D's  characteristic  setting  that  the  history  of 
Abimelech  and  the  Shechemites  was  not  included  in  the  Deutero- 
nomic  Book  of  Judges,  into  whose  pragmatism  it  could  not  easily 
be  coerced.*  It  was  found,  however,  in  the  older  Jehovistic  book 
which  D  worked  over  ;  the  same  sources  run  through  it  which  we 
have  discovered  in  ch.  6-8  ;  and  that  it  lay  before  D  appears  from 
8^*"'^,  which  is  his  brief  substitute  for  it.  It  must  have  been 
restored  by  a  still  later  editor,  who  wrote  8^"^^  to  introduce  it.f 

An  analysis  of  ch.  9  is  attempted  by  Winckler  {Altorientalische  Forschungen, 

p.    59    ff.),    as    follows:      J    9I-5.  21.  26-29.41.  42.  43.  46-49.      E    96  [7-20]  21  #  23-25.  30-33.  34-35 

[v.36-;58   i<?j   39. 40. 44.45_     fo    which    of   the   two  s  .^-^    belong   is    uncertain; 
v22.  s-w;  are  added  by  D. 

The  Story  of  Abimelech  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  Book  of 
Judges,  and  in  various  ways  one  of  the  most  instructive.  We 
have  learned  from  ch.  i  that  the  Israelites  in  no  part  of  the  land 
completely  dispossessed  the  native  population ;  that,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  latter,  even  where  the  new-comers  were  strongest,  retained 
many  of  the  most  important  places.  Ch.  9  gives  us  a  glimpse  of 
the  relations  between  the  two  peoples  thus  brought  side  by  side. 
The  Canaanite  town,  Shechem,  \  subject  to  Jerubbaal  of  Ophrah ; 


•  See  above,  p.  234  f. 

t  See  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p,  119-122;  and  above,  Introduction,  ^  7. 
X  Predominantly  Canaanite;   Israelites  were  no  doubt  settled  in  the  town;  they 
were  not,  however,  '  citizens  of  Shechem,'  but  gerlm. 


IX. 


239 


his  half-Canaanite  son  Abimelech,  who  naturally  belongs  to  his 
mother's  people  (see  on  v.^)  ;  the  successful  appeal  to  blood, 
*  which  is  thicker  than  water,'  by  which  he  becomes  king  of 
Shechem,  ruling  also  over  the  neighbouring  Israelites  ;  the  inter- 
loper Gaal  and  his  kinsmen,  who  settle  in  Shechem  and  instigate 
insurrection  against  Abimelech  by  skilfully  appealing  to  the  pride 
of  the  Shechemite  aristocracy,  —  all  help  us  better  than  anything 
else  in  the  book  to  realize  the  situation  in  this  period. 

Many  scholars  see  in  the  story  a  kind  of  prelude  to  the  history 
of  the  kingdom  of  Saul.  Gideon,  it  is  said,  was  in  fact  king  in 
Ophrah,  whatever  we  think  of  8"'^  ;  *  that  his  sons  would  succeed 
him  is  a  matter  of  course  (9-);  Abimelech  is  formally  created  king 
(9*^),  and  reigns  over  Israehtes  (Joseph)  as  well  as  Canaanites ;  a 
short-lived  Manassite  kingdom  thus  preceded  the  Benjamite  king- 
dom of  Saul.  aU  this  shows  that  Israel  was  feeling  its  way  toward 
a  stronger  and  more  stable  form  of  government.!  There  seems 
to  me  to  be  some  exaggeration  in  this.  It  is  a  very  uncertain, 
and  in  my  opinion  improbable,  conjecture  that  8-^-^  supersede  an 
older  statement  that  Gideon  was  made  king  in  consequence  of 
his  victory  over  Midian,  as  Saul  after  the  rehef  of  Jabesh  Gilead.  J 
That  Shechem  had  been  subject  or  tributary  to  him,  and  had 
reason  to  expect  that  his  sons  would  maintain  their  authority  over 
the  city,  does  not  prove  that  he  was  in  fact  king  in  Manasseh 
and  Ephraim  ;  that  his  authority  descended  not  to  one  son,  but  to 
all  of  them  jointly,  impHes  quite  the  opposite.  Abimelech  is  king 
of  Shechem,  a  Canaanite  town,  in  which,  as  among  the  Canaanites 
generally,  the  city-kingdom  was  the  customary  form  of  govern- 
ment. That  he  was  also  recognized  as  king  by  purely  Israelite 
towns  or  clans  is  not  intimated,  and  is  not  a  necessary  inference 
from  the  fact  that  he  has  the  Israelites  at  his  back  in  his  effort  to 
suppress  the  revolt  of  the  Canaanite  cities  (9^^). 

The  moral  of  the  story  is  brought  out  strongly,  but  naturally. 
Abimelech  and  the  people  of  Shechem  enjoy  but  a  little  while  the 


*  The  name  Abimelech  cannot  be  appealed  to  as  evidence  of  this ;  see  above, 

p.  235. 

t  See  We.,  Comp.,  p.  227;    Kit!.,  GdH.  i.  2.  j).  73  f . ;   especially  Sta.,  GVJ.  i 
p.  181  ff.  {Das  manassitische  Koni^thum) ,  esp.  p.  190  f. 

X  See  above,  comm.  on  822f-. 


240  JUDGES 

fruits  of  their  common  crime  ;  then  they  fall  out,  and  become 
fatal  to  each  other.  Abimelech  destroys  Shechem,  but  loses  his 
life  before  Thebez,  which  had  apparently  conspired  with  Shechem 
in  the  revolt.  This  righteous  retribution  is  denounced  beforehand 
by  Jotham,  and  the  writer  closes  by  pointing  out  how  signally  his 
prophetic  curse  had  been  fulfilled.  Studer  remarks  that  we  have 
here  a  religious  conception  of  history  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
Greeks  in  the  time  of  Herodotus  and  the  contemporary  tragic 
poets,  "  who  would  have  found  in  the  fate  of  Gideon's  house,  if  it 
had  belonged  to  their  national  cycle,  fruitful  material  for  their 
magnificent  compositions." 

1-6.  Abimelech  is  made  king  of  Shechem.  —  Abimelech  per- 
suades the  people  of  Shechem,  his  mother's  town,  to  support  him. 
With  money  from  their  temple  treasure  he  hires  a  band  of  bravos 
and  murders  his  brothers.  He  is  formally  made  king  of  Shechem 
and  Beth-millo.  —  1.  Abimelech  the  son  of  Jerubbaal  went  to 
Shechem]  after  his  father's  death  (8^^).  Jerubbaal  throughout 
the  chapter ;  see  on  6^^  7^  —  To  his  mother's  brethren']  the  nearer 
kinsmen;  cf.  14^  i6^^  —  The  whole  clan  of  his  mother's  family] 
the  clan  to  which  it  belonged.  Shechem,  the  modern  Nabulus,^*^ 
lay  in  a  valley  between  Mt.  Ebal  on  the  north  and  Mt.  Gerizim 
on  the  south,  in  the  heart  of  Mt.  Ephraim.  The  neighbourhood 
of  the  city  is  well-watered  and  exceedingly  fruitful.  The  principal 
road  from  Central  Palestine  across  the  Jordan  to  Gilead  started 
frowi  Shechem  (Gen.  32  33) ;  the  continuation  of  this  road  west- 
ward led  down  to  the  seaboard  plain.  The  great  north  road  from 
Jerusalem  through  Bethel  also  passed  through  Shechem,  con- 
tinuing north  by  En-gannim  (Gemn)  into  the  Great  Plain,  or 
striking  off  NE.  to  Beth-shean.  it  had  thus  every  advantage  of 
position,  and  was  doubtless  even  in  pre-Israelite  times  a  pros- 
perous and  important  place.  It  is  mentioned  more  than  once 
in  the  patriarchal  story  (Gen.  12^  33^^  34  35*  37^^^)-  The  treach- 
erous attack  on  Shechem  by  Simeon  and  Levi  (Gen.  34  49^'^) 
must  have  been  among  the  earliest  attempts  of  Israelites  to  estab- 
lish themselves  west  of  the  Jordan.  It  resulted,  in  the  end,  most 
disastrously  for  the  two  tribes,  which  never  recovered  from  the 

•  Flavia  NeapoUs ;  Justin  Martyr,  Apol.  i.  c.  i ;  Sehurer,  GjV.  i.  p.  546. 


IX.     1-2 


241 


vengeance  which  the  Canaanites  took  upon  them.  At  8hechem 
was  the  ancestral  tomb  of  Joseph  (Jos.  24''-) ;  there  according 
to  Jos.  2A^'^\*  Joshua  assembled  Israel  to  receive  his  parting 
instructions  and  make  the  solemn  covenant  of  religion  ;  cf.  Dt.  1 1^-*. 
In  Shechem,  also,  the  chief  place  of  Ephraim,  the  assembled 
tribes  made  Jeroboam  ben  Nebat  king  (i  K.  12);  one  of  the 
first  acts  of  his  reign  was  to  fortify  the  place.!  —  2.  He  puts  his 
kinsmen  up  to  speak  for  him  to  the  citizens.  —  The  freemen  of 
Sheche?n']  v.^  20^  i  S.  23"- ^^  ^  S.  21  ^2;  lit.,  the  proprietors^  those 
to  whom  it  belonged,  the  citizens;  then,  perhaps,  without  dis- 
tinction of  citizen  and  metic,  the  inhabitants.  —  Which  is  the  better 
for  you y  that  seventy  ?nen  rule  over  you  —  all  the  sojis  of  Jerubbaal 
—  or  that  one  ?nan  rule  over  you  /]  tile  authority  of  Jerubbaal,  he 
intimates,  would  descend  to  his  sons  jointly,  not  to  one  designated 
successor.  If  this  representation  is  true,  it  is  evident  that  we 
cannot  think  of  Jerubbaal  as  the  founder  of  a  kingdom,  however 
short-lived  ;  for  in  that  case  the  succession  must  have  been  his  first 
care.  Nor  need  we  suppose  that  the  people  of  Shechem  recog- 
nized any  right  to  rule  in  Jerubbaal  or  his  sons  ;  they  would  suc- 
ceed to  his  power,  that  is  all.  The  evils  of  such  a  many-headed 
tyranny  needed  no  argument;  the  earhest  poHtical  experience 
of  men  taught  the  lesson :  ovk  diyaOov  TroXvKOLpavLt)  •  cI?  Kot/oavos 
€(TTO),  ets  /^tto-iAevs.  Wellhausen  thinks  that  the  monarchy  is  here 
regarded  as  an  advance  upon  the  patriarchal  rule  of  the  nobles, 
and  infers  that  the  story  was  not  written  till  after  the  establish- 
ment of  the  kingdom  in  Israel.  I  do  not  think  we  need  see  in 
Abimelech's  words  deep  reflections  on  the  advantages  of  different 
forms  of  government,  behind  which  must  lie  the  experience  of 
the  monarchy.  The  present  case  was  plain  enough  in  itself.  — 
Remember,  besides,  that  I  am  your  own  flesh  and  blood'\  lit.  your 
bone  arid  your  flesh ;  2  S.  5^  i9^^-^''';J  cf.  Gen.  29^^  2^.  If,  as 
has  been  suggested  above  (p.  235),  Gideon's  concubine  who  lived 

*  ?? :  ©  Shiloh. 

t  On  Nabulus,  see  Seetzen,  Reisen,  ii.  p.  170  ff. ;  Rob.,  BR^.  ii.  p.  275  ff. ;  Rosen, 
Z,DMG.  xiv.  i860,  p.  634  ff. ;  Gu6rin,  Saniaric,  i.  p.  390-423 ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii. 
p.  203-210;  BiidS.,  p.  218-223;  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog.,  p.  119  f,  —  It  has  a  singu- 
lar interest  from  the  fact  that  the  last  remnants  of  the  Samaritans  live  there,  and 
the  rites  of  the  old  Israelite  religion  are  still  in  some  sort  observed. 

Jin  the  last  passage  David  makes  the  same  appeal  to  the  elders  of  Judah. 
R 


242  JUDGES 

at  Shechem  (8^^)  was  a  sad'iqa  wife,  this  appeal  would  have 
double  force  ;  for  the  children  of  such  a  marriage  belonged  to  the 
mother's  tribe,  not  to  the  father's.*  —  3.  His  mother's  kinsmen 
took  up  his  cause,  in  which  they  doubtless  discerned  their  own 
interest,  and  easily  persuaded  the  freemen.  —  Their  hearts  inclined 
to  follow  Abimelech,  for  they  said.  Be  is  our  brothe7''\  he  is  one 
of  us.  —  4.  They  furnish  him  money  from  the  temple-treasure. — 
Seventy  shekels  of  silver  from  the  tetnple  of  Baal-berith'\  the 
temple,  like  those  of  other  ancient  peoples,  had  its  treasure, 
accumulated  from  gifts,  payment  of  vows,  penalties,  and  the  like, 
which  was  drawn  upon  by  the  authorities  for  public  purposes, 
or  in  times  of  emergency.!  If  there  was  any  public  treasure 
besides,  it  was  kept  in  the  temple  for  security ;  }  and  the  wealth 
of  private  persons  was  often  deposited  there  for  safe-keeping.  § 
So  it  was,  doubtless,  in  a  small  way,  at  Shechem.  Baal-berith ; 
cf.  El-berith  \.^.  The  names  are  equivalent :  el  is  the  numen 
loci;  baal,  the  god  proprietor  of  the  place.  Baal-berith  is 
interpreted,  covefiant  Baal,  and  explained  either  as  the  god  who 
presides  over  covenants,  obligations,  alliances,  and  the  like ;  ||  or, 
with  a  more  particular  reference,  the  god  of  the  Canaanite  league 
at  the  head  of  which  Shechem  stood ;  %  or  who  presided  over 
the  treaty  between  the  Canaanite  and  Israelite  inhabitants  of 
Shechem.**  It  is  wiser  to  confess  that  we  know  nothing  about  the 
original  significance  of  the  name.  With  this  money  Abimelech 
hired  a  band  of  bravos.  —  Worthless  and  reckless  men']  ready  for 
the  commission  of  any  crime.  The  seventy  shekels  curiously  cor- 
respond to  the  seventy  sons  of  Jerubbaal ;  the  price  of  their  lives 
was  but  a  shekel  each.  —  5.  With  these  followers  he  went  to  his 
father's  home  in  Ophrah  and  slaughtered  his  brothers.  —  Seventy 
men  on  one  stone]  w}^.  Like  a  hecatomb  of  cattle,  cf.  i  S.  14^-. 
This  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  wanton  atrocity ;  ft  the  very  con- 
formity to  the  precautions  taken  in  slaughtering  animals  in  the 

♦  See  on  148. 

t  So  at  Jerusalem ;   i  K.  76I  2  K.  2oi3,  i  K.  15I8  2  K.  18I6  cf.  2  K.  i2<-  9ff-  224. 

t  So,  e.j^.,  at  Athens  in  the  oTrio-eoSo/ao?  of  the  Parthenon  ;  at  Rome  in  the  temple 
of  Saturn  on  the  Capitoline  (Stud,).  §  Cf.  2  Mace.  3IO-12, 

il  Cf.  Z(us  opKios,  Deus  fidius ;  Ges.  Thes.,  a).     Other  theories  in  Schm.,  Quaest. 
3  (P-  914)-  H  Ew..  G  VI.  ii.  p.  484. 

♦♦  Be.     We  might  then  perhaps  think  oi  the  treaty,  Gen.  34.  tf  Stud. 


TX.  2-6  243 

open  field  *  shows  that  the  motive  was  to  dispose  of  the  blood,  in 
which  was  the  Hfe  of  his  victims,  in  such  a  way  that  they  should 
give  him  no  further  trouble. t  It  is  an  instructive  instance  of  the 
power  of  animistic  superstitions.  Compare  the  slaughter  of  the 
seventy  sons  of  Ahab  and  the  brothers  of  Ahaziah  by  Jehu, 
2  K.  lo^^-^"'",  and  that  of  the  princes  of  Judah  by  Athaliah,  2  K. 
ii^-\  Only  Jotham,  the  youngest  son,  escaped;  cf.  2  K.  ii''*. — 
6.  The  Shechemites  make  Abimelech  king.  —  All  Bcth-jnillo'\  here 
and  in  v.^  named  with  Shechem,  but  distinguished  from  it,  is  sup- 
posed by  many  interpreters  to  be  the  same  as  the  Tower  of  She- 
chem (v.'*^"'''') ;  \  but  the  identification  is  very  doubtful,  especially  if 
we  recognize  two  strands  iw  the  narrative.  §  — By  the  massebah  tree 
which  is  at  Shecheni\  the  king  was  acclaimed  at  the  sanctuary  of 
Shechem,  as  Saul  was  at  Gilgal  (i  S.  11^^).  Under  the  holy  tree 
at  Shechem  Jacob  concealed  the  idols  and  amulets  of  his  house- 
hold (Gen.  35*)  ;  under  it,  too,  Joshua  set  up  the  witness-stone, 
which  had  "heard  all  the  words  which  Yahweh  spoke  "  (Jos.  24-'**, 
E).  II  From  the  latter  passage  it  appears  that  in  the  eighth  cen- 
tury there  was  an  old  standing- stone  {massebah)  under  the  holy 
tree.  The  word  massebah,  which  in  later  times  was  an  offence, 
was  mutilated  by  an  editor  or  scribe  ;  see  critical  note. 

1.  Jos.  24  (E)  assumes  that  at  the  end  of  Joshua's  life  Shechem  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Israelites;  Gen.  48^2  Jos.  2482  give  different  accounts  of  the 
Israelite  title  to  the  place.  That  in  the  days  of  Abimelech  it  was  still  Canaan- 
ite  appears  beyond  question  from  the  following  story.  The  difference  in  this 
point  between  Jos.  24  and  Jud.  9  is  an  argument  against  ascribing  the  latter 
to  E;  see,  however,  Bu.,  p.  119  n.  —  On  the  use  of  nnc'^'D  see  on  \f.  3N  no 
is  virtually  a  compound  noun;  cf.  the  plur.  nns  n>3  Nu.  i^  ike.  (never  \'i3 
m3N);  x\o\.,  the  house  of  his  mother's  father,  but  his  mother's  father' s-house, 
family.  —  2.  'So  •'J?N3  121]  speak  in  the  hearing  of  before;  for  one's  self 
(Gen.  50*)  or  in  behalf  of  another  (Gen.  44^^) ;  sometimes,  address  one  in 
the  presence  of  another  (Gen.  2^^^-  ^3  I6).  it  does  not  appear  that  the  phrase, 
which  is  a  common  one,l  has  any  peculiar  emphasis,  urge  the  question  (Kitt.). 
—  tPN  tt»>N  032  Stt'D  ON  .  .  .  tt'iN  Chats'  DD3  Sirpn]  the  alternative  with  cs  .  .  .  r, 
20^8  2  S.  24I8  I  K.  226- 15  &c.;   cf.  Jud.  22a.  ■  The  subject  of  the  inf.  is  here 


*  Cf.  Dt,  12I6  24.  f  Somewhat  similarly,  Hitzig.  G  VI.  i.  p.  115. 

+  Serar.,  Schm.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Sta.,  al. 

^  Winckler  propounds  as  a  novelty  the  old  conjecture  that  Millo  was  the  name 
of  Abimelech's  mother's  family.  ||  On  holy  trees,  sec  on  4II  6II. 

H  Cf.  also,  'Vfl  >j?K3  1DN  172;  sip  Ex.  24'. 


244  JUDGES 

sciiaratcd  from  it  by  the  complementary  prep,  and  its  object.  In  such  cases 
the  subj.  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  nominative;  see  Ges.^^  §  115,  2.  —  4.  D^pn] 
Ii3  (Jephthah's  band)  2  S.  6'^'^  2  Chr.  13^  (||  S>'>^3  ^J3).  Prop.  *  empty'  (f^); 
idle  (Prov.  12II  281^);  wanton  (2  S.  6-'^).  Others,  porHonless  (%  inopes), 
like  Jephthah  himself  (cf.  Neh.  518),  men  without  a  stake  in  society;  or  good 
for  nothing,  like  the  empty  ears  of  grain,  Gen.  4127,  homines  nullius  frugis 
(Stud.).  Cf.  ^a/cd  Matt.  5^2;  Kautzsch,  Aram.  Gram.,  p.  10.  — Dvns] 
Zeph.  3**  cf.  Jer.  23^2  (mino)  Gen.  49*.  In  Arab,  the  verb  means  'act  arro- 
gantly, insolently,  swagger';  in  Aram,  and  Syr.  it  is  used  more  particularly  of 
the  impudent  boldness  of  men  heated  by  wine,  or  of  reckless  licentiousness. 
The  notion  of  perfidy  which  Abulw.  finds  in  the  Heb.  word  is  not  confirmed 
by  the  usage,  ^ven.  1  reuchi.  m.  Aruch  |,-,p3  (^cf.  Ki.).  —  6.  niSd  no]  compare 
the  Millo  (Ni'?:2n,  always  with  the  article)  in  Jerusalem,  2  S.  5^  i  K.  9I5. 24  ii27 
2  Chr.  32^;  an  important  part  of  the  defences  of  the  city  (©  usually  17  &Kpa). 
At  a  Beth-millo  (query,  in  Jerusalem?)  Joash  was  murdered  (2  K.  1221). 
Following  ®  Nn"''70  (=  Heb.  nbbo  Is.  37^^,  cf.  Ra.)  and  the  context  in 
I  K.  1 12"^,  the  word  is  commonly  interpreted  'fill'  (of  earth),  earth- work 
(Ges.  Thes.),  more  specifically,  an  outwork  covering  the  entrance  to  a  city  or 
fortress  (SS.,  cf.  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  343).  These  etymological  explanations  are 
uncertain ;  the  word  is  apparently  Canaanite.  We  have  no  clue  to  the  site ; 
the  place  must  have  been  near  Shechem.  —  2X?D  |iSn  d;*]  fJl  points  ^'ip  as 
ptcp.  Hoph.  (Gen.  28^2)^  ^  /^^^  ^et  up  (cf.  S  IL),  which  is  perilously  near 
nonsense.  Context  and  construction  require  the  designation  of  a  particular 
tree;  in  place  of  3x0  we  should  have  a  genitive  with  the  article.  ^ALPVai.  g  ♦ 
7rp6s  T^  /SaXdi'v  t^s  o-rdcrews  pronounced  3:sc[n]  (Jos.  4^  cf.  I  S.  13'"^);  cf. 'A 
iirl  irediov  crT-qXibfxaTos  ^  NfiDp  1!:'">D  d;?.  In  the  light  of  Jos.  2426f-  we  need 
have  no  hesitation  in  emending  nnxan  pSs.  That  ::xp  is  a  noun  of  the  same 
meaning  as  njXD  (Stud.,  SS.,  al.)  is  a  much  more  hazardous  conjecture;  the 
article  is  indispensable,  and  the  noun-type  3:£p  inexplicable.  In  other  places 
the  na^n  has  been  rendered  harmless  by  substituiion  of  n:3rD  (Gen.  332*^) ;  cf. 
Gen.  3i-*9  (hdxc,  cf.  v.^^)  and  S  a  here  masp^ya. 

7-21.  Jotham's  apologue. — Jotham  is  apprised  of  the  pro- 
ceedings, and,  from  a  safe  position  on  Mt.  Gerizim,  shouts  in  the 
ears  of  the  assembly  his  fable  of  the  trees  who  made  them  a  king, 
giving  it  a  pointed  application  to  the  Shechemites  and  their  new 
lord.  The  application  is  not  on  all  fours  with  the  fable.  The 
proper  lesson  of  the  fable  is,  that  the  good  and  useful  members 
of  the  community  have  too  much  to  do  in  their  own  station  and 
calling  to  leave  it  for  the  onerous  responsibilities  of  the  kingdom  ; 
it  is  only  the  idle  and  worthless  who  can  be  persuaded  to  take  the 


♦  Also  ©BN  with  the  doublet  rp  evperp  (XXDjn)  ;    cf.  M, 


IX.  7-21  245 

ofifice.  It  is  natural  to  see  in  the  former  part  of  the  fable  a  refer- 
ence to  Jerubbaal,  who  declined  the  kingdom  which  the  unworthy 
Abimelech  had  just  assumed  ;  *  but  if  this  contrast  was  in  the 
writer's  mind,  he  does  not  bring  it  out  more  distinctly  in  the 
sequel,  which  is  exclusively  occupied  with  Abimelech.  The  most 
striking  incongruity  is  in  the  very  point  of  the  application.  In 
v.^^  the  question  is,  whether  the  trees  are  acting  in  good  faith 
toward  the  box-thorn  in  making  him  king;  in  v.""',  whether  in 
making  Abimelech  king  the  Shechemites  have  acted  in  faith  and 
honour  toward  Jerubbaal  and  his  house.f 

From  this  discrepancy  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  fable  (v,^-'"') 
was  not  original  with  the  author  of  v.'"^\  but  was  borrowed  by 
him,  perhaps  from  a  collection  of  popular  apologues,  and  put  to 
a  use  quite  foreign  to  its  native  purport.  I  It  is  somewhat  hazard- 
ous, however,  to  draw  this  conclusion  from  the  premises.  Faith 
and  honour  are  indeed  used  with  a  different  reference  in  v.^''  from 
that  which  they  implicitly  have  in  v.^^ ;  the  application  is  logically 
defective.  But  such  looseness  of  connexion  is  not  altogether 
uncommon  in  the  moral  of  apologues ;  the  parables  of  the  New 
Testament  would  furnish  more  than  one  example.  §  While  we 
concede  the  possibiHty,  therefore,  that  the  author  has  here  drawn 
upon  the  stores  of  folk-wisdom,  rather  than  on  his  own  inven- 
tion, this  supposition  is  by  no  means  necessary ;  and  it  remains 
the  simpler  and  more  natural  hypothesis  that  the  fable  is  of  the 
same  conception  with  the  rest  of  the  speech.  If  this  be  the 
case,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  we  should  see  in  the  fable  a 
judgment  upon  the  kingdom  as  a  form  of  government,  such 
as  a  number  of  recent  critics  are  disposed  to  find  in  it.  || 
The  author  had  in  mind  a  concrete  instance,  beyond  which 
he  had  no  occasion  to  travel.      The  attempt  to  determine  the 


*  Ch.  822f-.  So  the  older  interpreters  generally  ;  see  comm.  on  v.i*.  The  reason 
for  refusing  the  kingdom  in  gSff-  is  totally  different  from  that  given  in  S"-23. 

t  This  is  true,  even  if,  with  Doom.,  we  regard  v.icb-iita  as  a  gloss ;  for  these 
verses  are  at  least  a  correct  exposition  of  the  author's  meaning  (Smend). 

X  See  Reuss,  CrAT.  §  104;  Wildeboer,  Letterkunde  d.  ().  V.,  p.  39-41 ;  of.  Smend, 
Alttest.  Religlonsgesch.  p.  66  n. 

(J  Cf.  e.g.  the  parable  of  the  Unjust  Steward.  Lu.  i6>-''.  Stud,  refers  to  the  con- 
fusion of  figures  in  John  lo^ff . 

II  So,  in  different  ways,  Reuss,  Wildeboer,  bu.,  Smend,  al. 


246  JUDGES 

age  of  the  fable  by  its  attitude  to  the  kingdom  is  therefore  very 
precarious.* 

Jotham's  speech  is  hardly  to  be  deemed  historical ;  f  it  is  the 
way  in  which  the  author  sets  forth,  at  the  appropriate  moment, 
the  true  nature  of  the  new  kingdom,  and  foretells  what  will  come 
of  it  (cf.  v.^') .  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that  these  words  are 
uttered,  not,  as  in  so  many  similar  cases,  by  a  nameless  prophet, 
or  by  an  angel,  but  by  the  man  from  whose  lips  they  come  with 
the  most  dramatic  fitness.  In  this  also  we  may  perhaps  see 
evidence  of  the  antiquity  of  the  whole  story.  \  —  With  the  apo- 
logue, cf.  especially  2  K.  14^. 

7.  Feop/e  told  JothaTn]  that  the  citizens  of  Shechem  were 
making  Abimelech  king.  The  author  apparently  represents 
Jotham  as  addressing  the  multitudes  assembled  at  the  holy  tree 
to  acclaim  the  king  (v.^) .  The  words  lose  much  of  their  point  if 
we  imagine  that,  after  Abimelech  had  again  left  Shechem,  Jotham 
himself  called  the  people  of  the  town  together  on  Mt.  Gerizim 
and  delivered  to  them  his  speech.  §  —  He  stood  on  the  top  of  Mt. 
Gerizim\  Mt.  Gerizim  is  on  the  southern  side  of  the  valley  in 
which  Shechem  lies,  Mt.  Ebal  on  the  northern;  see  above,  on 
y}.  II  From  the  summit  of  Gerizim,  more  than  nine  hundred  feet 
high,  a  man  could  hardly  make  himself  heard  by  people  in  the 
valley  below ;  ^  but  the  writer's  language  need  not  be  pressed  to 
this  absurdity.  Modern  travellers  have  remarked  a  projecting 
crag  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  which  forms  a  triangular  plat- 
form overlooking  the  town  and  the  whole  valley,  a  natural  pulpit 
admirably  suited  to  the  requirements  of  the  story.**  —  Listen  to 
me^  ye  freemen  of  Shechem,  and  may  God  listen  to  you  /]  may 
God  give  ear  to  your  prayers  as  you  give  ear  to  me. 

8-15.   The  Fable.  —  8.    Once  upon  a  time  the  trees  went  about 
to  anoint  a  king  over  them']  they  offer  the  kingdom  first  to  the 


*  Sec,  e.g.,  Reuss,  Wildeboer. 

t  See,  on  the  opposite  side,  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  76.  t  We.  ^  Kitt. 

II  On  Gerizim  see  Guerin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  424  flF. ;   SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  148  f., 
187-193.  ^  Kue. 

**  Furrer.  Wandcrungen  durch  Paldslina,  1865,  p.  244  f.o ;  BL.  ii.  p.  330;  Biid^., 
p.  222. 


IX.  7-13  247 

olive,  which  in  the  zone  in  which  it  flourishes  is  the  most  valuable 
of  trees  to  man  ;  olea  .  .  .  prima  omnium  arborum  est  (Columella).* 
In  the  fertile  vale  of  Shechem  (Nabulus)  there  are  still  extensive 
and  beautiful  groves  of  olive  trees. f  —  9.  The  olive  declines  the 
proffered  honour.  —  Shall  I  stop  my  fatness,  with  which  gods  and 
?ne?i  are  honoured']  ^  has,  which  God  and  men  honour  i7i  jne  ;  X 
but  this  is  probably  an  alteration  from  motives  of  reverence.  § 
We  expect  something  corresponding  to  v.^^,  7?iy  wine  that  rejoices 
gods  and  men;  and  so  the  versions  generally  interpret,  though 
the  same  motive  which  prompted  the  correction  in  iJH  is  apparent 
in  their  renderings.  ||  As  men  anointed  themselves  on  feast  days, 
and  as  the  head  of  a  guest  was  anointed  as  a  sign  of  honour,  so 
oil  was  poured  or  smeared  on  the  sacred  stones  which  stood  for 
the  god,  and  in  which,  at  least  In  older  times,  he  was  believed  to 
dwell;  cf.  Gen.  28^^  35^^5[  And  as  oil  is  in  Pdestine  an  impor- 
tant article  of  food,  taking  the  place  of  butter  with  us,  it  is  offered 
to  the  gods  with  their  bread.**  —  And  come  to  rule  over  the  trees] 
lit.  sway ;  the  characteristic  movement  of  a  tree  (Is.  7-),  repre- 
sented as  a  gesture  of  authority ;  his  subjects  must  obey  his  beck 
and  nod.  — 10.  They  next  invite  the  fig  to  be  their  king,  but  he 
also  declines.  — 11.  Shall  I  stop  my  sweetness  and  my  prolific 
crop]  the  fig  tree  bears  at  two  or  even  three  seasons  of  the  year,tt 
and  its  fruit,  fresh  or  dried,  is  not  only  a  delicious  luxury  but  one 
of  the  food  staples  of  the  country.  %%  — 12.  Then  they  turn  to  the 
vine,  only  to  meet  the  same  refusal.  — 13.  Shall  I  stop  my  juice 
that  gladdens  gods  and  men]  exhilarates  them.  Wine  was  used  in 
hbations  wherever  the  grape  was  known.  Among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  it  was  poured  over  the  sacrificial  flesh  ;  in  Israel,  at  least 

*  De  re  rustica,  v.  8 ;  other  ancient  testimonies  are  collected  by  Celsius,  Hicro- 
botanicon,  ii.  p.  334  ff.  On  the  olive  in  Palestine,  sec  Anderlind,  ZDPV.  xi.  1888, 
p.  69-77 ;  Thomson,  Land  and  Book^,  iii.  p.  33  ff. 

t  Van  de  Velde,  Narrative,  i.  p.  386;  Rosen,  ZDMG.  xiv.  p.  638  ;  Pctermann, 
Reiseri^,  p.  266.  X  So  also  most  recensions  of  ©  ;  sec  crit.  note. 

^  Geiger,  Urschrift,  p,  327.  (|  Compare  the  translations  of  v.is, 

H  The  custom  prevailed  very  widely ;  see  references  in  Di.  on  Gen.  281^",  and 
W,  R,  Smith,  cited  in  the  next  note. 

**  See  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  214  f.  On  the  various  uses  of 
oil  for  food  see  DB.  s.v. 

ft  Pliny,  n.  A.,  xvi.  113,  114;  Shaw,  Travels'^,  1757,  p.  342;  DB^.  s.v. 
XX  Fig  trees  at  Nabulus,  see  Rosen,  l.s.c.\  Anderlind,  I.e.  p.  80. 


248  JUDGES 

in  later  times,  it  was  poured  on  the  ground  by  the  altar ;  *  prob- 
ably in  the  primitive  practise  it  was  poured  out  before  or  at  the 
foot  of  the  standing  stone.  The  wine  which  the  god  thus  par- 
takes of  with  his  worshippers  has  the  same  eifect  on  him  as  on 
them. 

The  teaching  of  this  part  of  the  fable  is  that  men  whose  char- 
acter and  abiUty  fit  them  to  rule  are  unwilling  to  sacrifice  tl^ir 
usefulness  and  the  honour  they  enjoy  in  a  private  station,  for  the 
sake  of  power.  By  the  repetition  of  the  offer  and  refusal,  the 
author  generalizes ;  no  man  of  standing  in  the  community  would 
want  to  be  king.f  The  general  assertion  may,  however,  be  made 
for  a  particular  application,  and  does  not  necessarily  convey  a 
judgement  upon  the  kingdom  in  principle.  Whether  we  find  in  it 
such  a  judgement  will  depend  on  our  opinion  about  the  origin  of 
the  fable ;  see  above,  p.  245.  However  that  may  be,  the  older 
interpreters  were  doubtless  right  in  seeing  in  the  fable  in  its 
present  connexion  a  contrast  between  Gideon's  refusal  (8^^)  and 
Abimelech's  ready  acceptance  of  regal  name  and  power.  |  — 
14.  Their  proffer  of  the  kingdom  being  rejected  by  all  the  better 
sort,  the  trees  come  down  to  the  common  box-thorn,  a  plant  of 
very  opposite  character  from  those  which  they  had  previously 
addressed  ;  bearing  no  fruit,  giving  no  shade,  yielding  no  timber  ; 
a  useless  and  noxious  cumberer  of  the  ground.  — 15.  Here  at 
last  they  found  one  who  was  ready  to  be  their  king.  —  If  you  are 
anointing  me  king  over  you  in  good  faith']  if  it  be  not  jest  and 
mockery,  but  serious  earnest. —  Come,  take  refuge- in  my  shadoiv\ 
put  yourselves  under  my  protection  and  confide  in  me.  The 
irony  of  the  fable  has  its  climax  in  the  seriousness  of  this  pledge 
of  protection  :  the  image  of  the  trees  of  forest  and  field  seeking 
shelter  in  the  shadow  of  the  thorn-bush  has  in  it  the  whole 
absurdity  of  the  situation.  Men  wanted  a  king  to  defend  them 
from  their  enemies  (8^"^-  i  S.  9^^) ;  of  what  use  was  a  king  who 


*  Ecclus.  S0I6 ;  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  iii.  9,  4  \  234 ;  see  Di.  on  Nu.  15"  28"  ;  W.  R.  Smith, 
Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  213  f. 

t  The  Midrash  gives  an  allegorical  interpretation  :  the  olive  represents  Othnicl ; 
the  fig,  Deborah  ;  the  vine,  Gideon.  See  Yalqut,  ii.  ^^  65  ;  Ra.  ad  loc.  Jos.  Kimchi 
explained  the  three  trees  of  Gideon,  his  son,  and  grandson  (823). 

X  See  Cler.  and  Schm.  on  v.i6. 


IX.   13-15  249 

could  not  do  that  ?  —  But  if  tiot,  fire  shall  go  forth  from  the  box- 
thorn  and  devour  the  cedars  of  Lebanon']  it  was  doubtless  not  an 
uncommon  thing  for  a  fire,  starting  among  thorns,  to  spread  to 
field  and  orchard  (Ex.  22*^),  or  forest  (Is.  9'^),  so  that  the  lowly 
thorn  became  the  destruction  of  the  stateliest  trees.  The  cedars 
of  Leba?ion  represent  the  opposite  extreme  of  creation  from  the 
thorn;  see  2  K.  14^,  Jehoash's  insulting  answer  to  Amaziah  of 
Judah.  Where  there  is  no  power  to  help,  there  may  be  infinite 
possibilities  of  harm.  Those  who  made  the  thorn  king  over  them 
put  themselves  in  this  dilemma :  if  they  were  true  to  him,  they 
enjoyed  his  protection,  which  was  a  mockery ;  if  they  were  false 
to  him,  he  would  be  their  ruin.* 

8.  idSh  "|iSn]  the  inf.  abs.  at  the  beginning  of  the  sentence  in  cases  like 
this  has  very  little  emphasis;  cf.  Gen.  2628  43^.  —  7\yh:2']  Qere  hd't;  similarly 
^ji'?D  V.1012  Qeri  oSd;  cf.  Ps.  262  i  S.  28^,  Ges.2«  §  48,  5;  K5.,  up.  163-166; 
Praetorius,  ZA  TW.  iii.  p.  55.  —  9.  "•n^tinn]  v.^^- 1^.  The  punctuation  is  entirely 
anomalous,  and  has  given  rise  to  much  discussion;  see  Stud.,  and  Ko.,  i.  p.  240- 
242.t  The  most  probable  explanation  is  that  the  punctuation  intends  a  Hoph. 
with  n  interrogative,  assuming  the  elision  of  the  n  preformative ;  shall  I  he 
compelled  to  give  up,  &c.  (01.  §  89;  Sta.  §  175  a;  K6.,  i.  p.  242).  What  the 
author  intended  is  another  question.  It  seems  at  first  sight  simplest  to  take 
the  verb  as  Kal  with  n  interrogative  ("'n^'^nn) ;  J  but  ^^n  is  never  construed 
with  ace.  (poetical  instances  where  the  object  is  an  inf.,  such  as  Job  3I'',  are 
not  in  point).  I  prefer,  therefore,  to  regard  it  as  lliph.  ("'Jp'^^nn),  'cause  to 
leave  off,  stop.'  §  That  the  Hiph.  does  not  elsewhere  occur  is  of  no  great 
weight.  The  absence  of  the  interrogative  particle  is  no  objection;  see  the 
following  note.  The  idiomatic  use  of  the  perfect  in  these  exclamatory  ques- 
tions is  to  be  noted;  cf.  Gen.  18^2  j  g.  25^^  (^'^npSi),  Dr^.  §  19.  It  seems  to 
be  akin  to  the  use  of  the  perfect  in  hypotheses  contrary  to  reality.  ||  The 
interrogative  particle  is  not  usual  in  such  cases.  —  '•JiJ'''],  pingids  oliva,  Verg., 
g9org.  ii.  424;  Hor.,  epod.  ii.  54  f. ;  cf.  Rom.  ii^'^.  —  D"'Cjni  dv-i'?n  na^"-  o  -^fx] 
so  (gAX.MNOPV  g  [  0.  (fJB  ^^  ^  So^dcroutrij'  Thv  debv  ApSpes;  IL  gun  et  dii  utiintur 
et  homines ;    %  with  which  they  honour   Y.,  and  in  which  men  luxuriate ; 


*  Stud. 

t  Of  the  Jewish  grammarians,  Do  Balmis  regards  the  form  as  Kal  (fol.  gibend); 
Abulwalid,  as  Hiph.  {Luma',  p.  325)  ;  Kimclii,  as  Hoph.  {Michlol,  fol.  63»>  f.,  ed. 
Lyck). 

+  Stud.,  Be.,  Ka.,  al.;  cf.  Ges.25  p.  167. 

\  01.,  Sta.;  cf.  Ew.  This  reading  is  found  in  the  mrrgin  ot  the  first  two  Bom- 
berg  edd.,  and  in  an  Erfurt  cod.  (JHMich.). 

II  There  is  a  special  reason  for  tlic  impf.  in  Jud.  11^. 


250  JUDGES 

S  because  by  ffie  God  and  men  are  honoured*  How  far  these  versions  had  a 
different  text  from  i!H  is  not  clear.  They  have  at  least  interpreted  with  a 
correct  perception  of  what  the  context  requires.  For  o  we  must  then  emend 
o  {luith  which),  and  should  prefer  to  pronounce  the  verb  as  Niph.  (n:33;), 
though  the  Pi.  with  indefinite  subject  is  not  impossible.  — 10.  oiSc]  see  on 
v.*^.  — 11.  pnn^]  cf.  the  adj.  pirc  141*- 1^.  The  primary  sense  seems  to  be, 
something  which  one  sucks;  cf.  Syr.  methaq  (L6w,  Pfianzennamen,  p.  333). 
—  \->3ijr]  Ez.  36^0  Dt.  32I3.  — 13,  s'n\-]  the  juice  of  the  grape,  must,  Mi,  61^; 
frequently  named  with  corn  (iJ-<)  and  fresh  oil  (inxi)  as  one  of  the  chief 
products  of  agriculture,  e.g.  Jer.  311^^;  as  such  it  is  subject  to  the  tithe 
(Dt.  12^"),  &c.  The  corresponding  Syriac  word  |ii^9po  is  defined  in  the 
native  lexicons  as  'must,  fresh  grape  juice  as  it  comes  from  the  press';  see 
PS.  1635.  In  the  O.T.  cnv^i  is  used  not  only  of  sweet  must  (d^D>'),  but  of 
grape  juice  which  has  undergone  fermentation  {y^) ;  cf.  e.g.  Hos.  4^1 ;  so  here. 
The  etymology  still  maintained  by  Ges.  Thes.,  633  f.,  Fleischer,  al.  (^quia 
inebriat,  cerebrum  occupat)  is  at  variance  with  both  the  form  and  meaning  of 
the  word.  — 14.  noxn]  rhamnus,  (§11.  So  in  Punic;  Dioscorides,  i.  119  (ed. 
Sprengel,  i.  p.  114),  pd/jLvos  •  'Acppoi  dradiv  (Boch.,  Gels.,  L6w,  Pflanzennamen, 
p.  404);  Arab.,  Syr.  dial.;  see  Low,  p.  44.  The  common  species  in  Palestine 
is  Lycium  Europaeum  Linn.,  spread  over  the  whole  country  (JDB^.  i.  p.  451). 

16-20.  The  application.  — 16.  And  now']  to  come  to  the 
moral.  —  If  you  have  acted  in  good  faith  and  honour  in  making 
Abimelech  king  as  you  have  done]  the  words  correspond  to  v.^ 
{in  good  faith),  but  are  used  with  a  different  reference,  as  imme- 
diately appears.  In  v.^^  the  question  is  of  their  good  faith  to  the 
new  king ;  in  v.^^^  of  good  faith  to  Jerubbaal  and  his  family.  If 
it  is  thought  too  improbable  a  hypothesis  that  the  author  invented 
an  apologue  that  does  not  in  strict  logic  tally  with  the  appHcation 
he  intended  to  make  of  it,  the  alternative  is  to  suppose  that  he 
borrowed  and  adapted  an  older  fable,  the  lesson  of  which  was  not 
quite  the  same  that  he  wished  to  inculcate.!  This  explanation, 
however,  creates  other  difficulties ;  for  v.^^''  is  obviously  not  a 
natural  ending  for  an  independent  fable  of  the  purport  generally 
attributed  to  v.*^"^^ ;  it  is  appropriate,  and  we  might  almost  say 
intelligible,  only  as  foreshadowing  the  ruin  which  Abimelech 
brought  upon  the  Shechemites.  Moreover,  in  the  following  nar- 
rative itself  it  is  the  unfaithfulness  of  the  men  of  Shechem  to 

^  •  Several' older  commentators  whose  exegetical  tact  was  stronger  than  their 
grammar,  translate  ffl  in  the  same  way ;  so  Vatabl.,  Drus.,  Celsius,  al. 
t  See  above,  p.  245, 


IX.   i6-i8 


251 


Abimelech  that  is  the  cause  of  their  undoing,  however  justly 
this  may  be  regarded  as  a  retribution  for  their  unfaithfulness  to 
Jerubbaal.  The  simplest  and  most  natural  explanation  seems  to 
be  that  in  pointing  his  moral  the  author's  logic  is  not  strictly 
consequent.  —  And  if  you  have  dealt  well  with  Jerubbaal'\  the 
triple  protasis  in  v.^^  is  separated  from  its  apodosis  (v.''"')  by  a 
parenthetic  review  of  Jerubbaal's  deserts  and  the  sins  of  the 
Shechemites  (v.^^*') ;  v.^^  repeats  the  substance  of  v.^*'  to  resume 
the  interrupted  construction.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  v.'''"-  are 
not  organically  related  to  the  context,  and  could  be  omitted  with- 
out leaving  a  gap.  I  see  no  sufficient  reason,  however,  for  regard- 
ing them  as  an  interpolation ;  they  have  a  vigour  and  an  individu- 
ality of  expression  which  are  not  usually  found  in  glosses.*  —  If 
you  have  done  to  him  as  he  deserved^  lit.  accordi?ig  to  the  desert 
of  his  hands;  cf.  Is.  3".  — 17.  To  give  emphasis  to  the  last 
words,  he  reminds  them  of  Jerubbaal's  services,  and  of  the  way 
in  which  they  have  been  requited.  —  In  that  7ny  father  fought  for 
you'\  with  deepening  feeling,  my  father ^  instead  of  Jerubbaal  as 
before.  —  And  hazarded  his  life~\  lit.  cast  his  life  straight  away, 
as  a  thing  of  which  he  recked  not ;  cf.  s^^.f  —  And  rescued  you~\ 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  writer  thinks  of  the  people  of  Shechem 
as  Israelites,  at  variance  with  v.^^.  — 18.  Whereas  you  have  risen 
against  my  father's  house  and  have  slain  his  sons'\  this  was  their 
return  for  the  dangers  he  had  incurred  and  the  deliverance  he  had 
wrought  for  them.  The  Shechemites  had  with  full  cognizance 
furnished  Abimelech  the  means  to  kill  his  brothers  (v.'"*),  and 
shared  his  guilt  in  the  crime  by  which  they  jointly  profited  (cf.  v"). 
—  Severity  men  on  one  stone~\  the  words  are  here  somewhat  super- 
fluous, and  may  be  borrowed  from  v.^.  —  The  son  of  his  ?naid- 
servant~\  slave-concubine.  In  8^^  Abimelech's  mother  is  Gideon's 
'concubine,  apparently  a  free  woman ;  see  comm.  there.  The 
difference  of  representation  probably  existed  in  the  sources.  — 
Because  he  is  your  brother']  kinsman,  fellow-countryman;  v. 


u. ."? 


*  Doom,  thinks  that  v.ifib-i^a  is  all  a  gloss.  Smend,  who  adopts  this  opinion, 
recognizes  that  the  verses  are  at  least  a  correct  exposition  of  the  author's  meaning 
'  {Alttest.  Religionsgesch.,  p.  66  n.). 

t  The  phrase,  cant  behind  one,  is  commoner  (i  K.  14'-'  -Sec).  Cler.  cites  Lucan, 
iv.  516  :  Projeci  vitam,  comiies,  &c. 


252  JUDGES 

19.  If,  I  say,  you  have  acted  in  good  faith']  resuming  the  protasis 
(v.'^)  after  the  digression,  v.^'*-. — Rejoice  in  Abimelech  and  may 
he  rejoice  in  you]  I  wish  you  all  joy  in  one  another  in  your  new 
relation.  The  words  have  an  ironical  ring ;  much  happiness  may 
you  have  in  this  bramble-king  of  yours.  —  20.  But  if  not,  fire 
shall  go  forth  fro?n  Abimelech]  the  figure  of  the  fable,  v.^^^.  — 
And  fire  shall  go  forth  fro?n  the  freetnen  of  Shechem,  (Sr'r.]  here 
he  goes  beyond  the  fable ;  not  only  shall  their  unworthy  king  be 
fatal  to  them,  but  they  to  him.  With  this  parting  curse  he  left 
them  ;  its  fulfilment  is  declared  in  v.'^S  cf.  v.^"*^-  ^-^.  —  21.  Jotham 
made  his  escape  to  Beer,  beyond  the  reach  of  Abimelech's  ven- 
geance. The  site  of  Beer  is  unknown.  S.  Schmid  and  Studer  are 
of  the  opinion  that  Beersheba,  in  the  remote  south,  is  meant. 
Others  think  that  it  is  the  same  as  Beeroth  (Jos.  9^^  2  S.  4-),  now 
el-Bireh,  three  hours  north  of  Jerusalem.*  The  name  (Well)  is 
too  common  to  make  this  identification  anything  more  than  a 
possibiUty. 

21.  ^"»«3]  Euseb.  (6>52.  23873)  identifies  Beer  with  a  village  of  the  name 
(B77/)a)  8  m.  N.  of  Eleutheropolis;  probably  the  modern  Khirbet  el-Bireh, 
W.  of  'Ain  Shems  (Beth-shemesh) ;  so  Ke.f  Maundrell  (1697)  and  Reland 
(^Palaestina,  p.  617  f.)  regarded  el-Bireh  north  of  Jerusalem  as  the  Beer  of 
our  text.  Eshtori  Parchi  (fol.  68^)  identified  this  Bireh  with  Beeroth,  and 
since  Rot^nson  {BK^.  i.  p.  452)  this  has  been  the  prevailing  opinion.  %  Many, 
as  has  been  said  above,  believe  Beer  and  Beeroth  to  be  the  same  place,  and 
put  them  both  at  el-Bireh.  Beeroth  belonged  to  the  Gibeonite  confederacy, 
and  was  doubtless  at  this  time  a  Canaanite  town  (2  S.  21I,  cf.  4^). 

22-25.  The  Shechemites  and  Abimelech  fall  out.  —  God  sends 
a  spirit  of  discord  between  Abimelech  and  the  people  of  Shechem, 
in  just  retribution  for  their  common  crime.  The  Shechemites  lie 
in  wait  in  the  mountains  and  rob  passers  by.  —  The  verses  form 
the  introduction  to  one  of  the  two  accounts  of  Abimelech's  attack 
on  Shechem  (v.'*^-*'),  and  are  parallel  to  v.-*'-^.  This  version  may 
with  considerable  confidence  be  ascribed  to  E ;  observe  eloKim, 

*  On  el-Rireh,  sec  Rob.,Z?^.  i.  p.  451-454;  Tobler,  Topographic  von  Jerusalem, 
ii.  p.  495-501 ;  Gu6rin,  Judee/m.-^ii.  7-13;  SWP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  8  f. ;  DIP-,  s.v. 
"  Hcerolh." 

t  The  distance  is,  liovvcver,  considerably  greater  than  EuseBius  gives. 

X  Sandrt'czki  and  Kc.  dissent,  on  the  ground  that  cl-BIreh  is  too  remote  from 
Gibeon. 


IX.    19-25  253 

v.^,  and  compare  the  reflections  of  v>'*  with  Jotham's  speech,  v.^'^-^^, 
and  v.^*'-.  —  22.    Abimelech  ruled  over  Israel  three  years\  in  the 
foregoing  narrative  we  have  heard  only  how  Abimelech  was  made 
king  of  Shechem  and  Ikth-millo  (v/'-'^-^O-     I^^  what  follows  it 
appears  that  he  did  not  reside  at  Shechem,  and  he  lost  his  life  in 
trying  to  put  down  the  revolt  of  Thebez.     It  is  evident,  therefore, 
that  his  power  extended  over  other  cities  in  Central  Palestine  ; 
that  it  included  Israelites  as  well  as  Canaanites  appears  from  v."' ; 
but  the  statement  that  he  ruled  over  Israel  is  not  borne  out  by  the 
rest  of  the  chapter,  and  is  strikingly  at  variance  with  v.^-^*,  which 
speaks  only  of  Shechem.*     There  is  therefore  good  reason  to 
suspect  that  this  chronological  note  is  not  an  original  part  of  the 
story,  but  an  editorial  addition.  —  23.    God  se?it  an  evil  spirif]  a 
mischief-making  spirit;   compare  the  madness  of  Saul,  i  S.  i6'* 
iS**^  (the   evil  spirit   of  God)    19^  and  the  delusion  of  Ahab's 
prophets,  i   K.  2  2^^-''l     God  is  the  author  of  the  fatal  mistakes 
and  misdeeds  of  men,  which  they  commit  to  their  own  undoing ; 
he  sends  a  spirit  of  infatuation  into  them  to  impel  them  blindly  to 
their  ruin.     This  belief  corresponds  very  closely  to  the  Greek  idea 
of  5x77,  even  in  the  personification  of  this  spirit  (i  K.  2  2-^-^).t 
-^The  men  of  Shechem  were  false  to  Abimelech']  cf.  v.i''- 1«». — 
24.   God  sent  this  spirit  to  foment  mischief  between  them,  in 
order  that,  in  fitting  retribution,  these  partners  in  crime  might 
inflict  upon  each  other  the  just  punishment  of  their   deed ;  cf. 
^5Cf.^  y_4.i8^     gojne  disorder  has  been  introduced  into   the   text, 
apparently  in  the   attempt  to  render  it  more  explicit,  or  more 
emphatic;   see  critical  note.  — 25.    Pict  men  in  ambush  on  the 
kill  top  to  his  damage,  afid  robbed  all  who  passed  by  them  on  the 
road]  the  position  of  Shechem,  on  two  of  the  main  arteries  of 
trade  and  travel  through  Mt.  Ephraim,  %  made  this  particularly 
serious  ;  cf.  Hos.  6^    In  what  way  Abimelech  was  a  sufferer  by  this 
above  others,  we  are  not  told.     He  may  himself  have  levied  toll 
on  those  who  passed  through  his  district,  in  which  case  his  rev- 
enues would  fall  off  in  the  insecurity  of  the  roads ;  and  doubtless 
those  who  were  about  his  business,  or  who  were  bearing  tribute  to 


*  Cf.  also  V.21.  t  See  Sta..  G  VI .  i.  p.  435  :   ^^'  above  on  f\  p.  87  f. 

+  See  above,  p.  240. 


254  JUDGES 

him  (cf.  3"*),  would  be  especially  welcome  objects  of  plunder  to 
the  Shechemites.  —  //  was  told  to  Abimekch']  the  words  have  no 
connexion  with  the  following  story  of  Gaal's  intrigue  (v.^^"^^),  but 
are  parallel  to  v.^"^,  and  would  naturally  be  followed  by  the  state- 
ment that  Abimelech  with  his  soldiers  marched  against  Shechem. 
We  probably  have  the  continuation  of  this  narrative  in  v."^^- ;  see 
there. 

22.  -^b'M]  pointed  by  f^  as  if  derived  from  -\^z>  (like  "^dm  &c.),  cf.  n^tf'n 
IIos.  8'*;  in  Is.  32^  nu"'  as  from  int:'.  The  latter  is  preferable;  see  K6.,  i. 
P-  328,  352;  and  note  above  on  "ir^i  6^8.  —  24.  hy  u^zh  Dmi  .  .  .  Don  nijS 
I^don]  the  change  of  subject  between  the  two  inff.  {that  the  murder . .  .  f/iight 
come,  and  that  he  j/iight  put  the  guilt  of  their  blood  on  Abimelech^  is  intolerably 
harsh.  ®  straightens  out  the  construction  by  rendering  rov  ivayayecv,  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  they  read  N-'^n':'.  Probably  urz'h  was  intro- 
duced by  an  ancient  scribe  who  missed  the  government  of  Dm.  The  resulting 
awkwardness  of  structure  reminds  us  of  3^.  —  h^^n-^^  ■'J3  w^y^'^i^  Dcn]  objective 
genitive,  as  usual  with  this  noun;  the  crime  committed  against  them,  cf 
Obad.  iio  Hab.  2«- 1^  Gen.  i65.  — 25.  doisd]  ptcp.  Pi.,  2  Chr.  2o22t._S?j] 
rod,  c.  ace.  pers.,  cf  Dt.  28'^^;  carry  off  by  force  (rapere)  Jud.  21^3.  —  hy  n^;;] 
I  K.  98  2  K.  4^. 

26-41.  Gaal  incites  the  people  of  Shechem  to  revolt;  they 
are  defeated  by  Abimelech.  —  Gaal,  a  new-comer  in  the  place, 
persuades  the  Shechemites  to  throw  off  Abimelech's  yoke,  and 
puts  himself  at  their  head  (v.^"^) .  He  is  disconcerted  by  Abime- 
lech's sudden  appearance  before  the  town,  but  goes  out  to  battle 
against  him  (v."'^'^^).  The  Shechemites  are  badly  beaten,  and 
driven  within  their  walls;  Gaal  and  his  clansmen  are  thrust  out 
(v.*^*).  The  narrative  has  the  realism  and  the  humour  which 
belong  to  the  best  Hebrew  folk-stories,  and  in  many  respects 
reminds  us  of  the  story  of  Samson.  As  the  other  strand  in  this 
chapter  has  in  general  the  features  of  E,  we  may  at  least  pro- 
visionally ascribe  this  part  of  the  narrative  to  J. 

26.  Gaal  ben  Ebed  and  his  kinsmen']  son  of  a  slave  is  evi- 
dently a  perversion  of  the  name,  which  was  probably  Obed ;  see 
crit.  note.  Whether  these  new-comers  were  Israelites  or  Canaan- 
ites  is  not  clear;  see  on  v.^^.  —  And  moved  into  Shechem']  so 
the  words  should  probably  be  translated.  The  expression  is  an 
unusual  one,  and  hardly  says  what  we  should  have  expected  in  the 
context ;  but  the  Hebrew  text  is  supported  by  all  the  versions.  — 


IX.  25-28  255 

The  citizens  of  Shcchein  put  confidence  in  hi??t~\  by  what  arts  he 
insinuated  himself  into  their  confidence  we  may  learn  from  the 
following  verses,  in  which  Gaal  appears  as  a  shrewd  demagogue. 
—  27.  They  celebrated  the  completion  of  the  vintage,  according 
to  custom,  by  a  feast  at  the  temple  of  their  god  ;  see  note.  Such 
an  occasion  could  hardly  fail  to  quicken  local  patriotism,  and 
bring  to  the  surface  whatever  latent  dissatisfaction  there  was  with 
the  rule  of  their  half-Israehte  and  evidently  non-resident  king.  — 
They  ate  and  dj-ank^  and  reviled  Abimelech.  —  28.  Gaal  took 
advantage  of  this  temper  to  instigate  a  revolt  and  offer  himself 
as  a  leader.  Unfortunately,  v.^^  is  obscure,  and  the  text  perhaps 
not  intact.  In  the  connexion  the  following  points  seem  to  be 
certain:  .  i.  Gaal  does  not  foment  an  insurrection  of  Israelite 
denizens  against  the  rule  of  the  Shechemite  Abimelech,  but  of 
the  native  Shechemites  against  the  half-Israelite  Abimelech. 
2.  Of  whatever  race  Gaal  may  have  been,  he  identifies  himself 
with  the  men  of  Shechem  and  speaks  as  one  of  them.*  3.  He 
appeals  to  their  national  pride  in  the  people  of  Hamor  father  of 
Shechem,  the  old  blue  blood  of  Canaan  against  this  usurping  half- 
breed.  In  this  sense  the  verse  is  understood  by  Rashi,  who  gives, 
upon  the  whole,  the  most  satisfactory  interpretation  of  fH  :  "  Who 
is  Abimelech,  that  he  should  be  ruler  of  Shechem,  and  who  are 
the  Shechemites,  that  they  should  be  subject  to  Abimelech?  Is 
not  Abimelech  the  son  of  Jerubbaal,  who  was  from  the  Abiezrite 
Ophrah ;  f  and  is  not  Zebul  merely  his  lieutenant  ?  The  master 
has  no  rightful  authority  in  the  city,  and  his  lieutenant  is  of  no 
account  at  all.  If  you  are  bent  on  getting  yourselves  masters, 
come  and  be  subject  to  the  men  of  Hamor,  who  was  anciently 
the  prince  of  the  land  ;  why  should  we  be  subject  to  Abimelech?  " 
The  structure  of  the  latter  part  of  the  verse  is  much  simplified, 
however,  if  instead  of  the  imperative,  Serve  the  ?nen  of  Hamor, 
we  pronounce  the  verb  as  a  perfect :  Were  not  the  son  of  Jerub- 
baal and  Zebul  his  lieutenant  (formerly)  subjects  of  the  people  of 
Hamor  abi-Shechem  ?  Why\  then,  should  we  (now)  be  subject  to 
him  ?     In  the  first  half  of  the  verse  the  antithesis  in  the  clauses, 


•  It  is  by  no  means  clear  that  he  was  an  IsraeHte,  as  We.,  Kue.,  al.  think, 
t  I.e.  an  Israelitish  stranger. 


256  JUDGES 

IV/io  is  Abimelech  ?  and  who  is  Shechem,  that  we  should  serve 
him  ?  seems  to  many  scholars  to  be  unsatisfactory ;  they  think 
that  we  should  have  a  synonymous  expression,  as  in  i  S.  25^", 
"  Who  is  David,  and  who  the  son  of  Jesse? "  But  in  the  light  of 
the  following,  as  I  understand  it,  the  antithesis  is  not  only  toler- 
able but  effective.  Is  Abimelech  king  in  his  own  right?  Is 
Shechem  naturally  his  empire,  that  we  should  be  subject  to  him? 
So  far  from  it,  he  himself  was  formerly  a  subject  of  the  old 
Haraorite  nobility  of  Shechem.  I  see  no  necessity,  therefore, 
for  any  radical  change  in  the  text ;  see  critical  note.  —  Hamor 
abi-Shechem\  Gen.  33^^  34 ;  the  old  Canaanite  aristocracy.  — 
29.  Would  that  I  had  the  direction  of  this  people ;  I  would  get 
rid  of  Abimelech  !'\  like  a  consummate  demagogue  he  first  arouses 
the  passions  of  his  hearers,  then  adroitly  puts  himself  forward  as 
the  man  for  the  crilws.  —  /  would  say  to  Abimelech,  Enlarge  your 
army  and  come  out  /]  I  would  defy  him  to  maintain  his  authority 
over  Shechem  by  arms.  So  (!i  :  |^  has,  he  said  to  Abimelech.  In 
view  of  v.^-,  the  latter  reading  cannot  be  interpreted,  he  sent  this 
challenge  to  Abimelech ;  we  could  only  understand  the  words  as 
a  swaggering  apostrophe  in  his  speech  to  the  Shechemites.* 

26.  13;;  p  ^vj]  6^^*  yi^^  lojprjX  (avlmo  g  ^  A/3c6).  Ew.,  GVI.  ii.  p.  485, 
thought  h^v  (an  old  Canaanite  name)  the  more  probable  reading;  similarly 
Kue.,  Doom.,  Sta.,  Kautzsch,  Bu.,  Kitt.,t  supposing  that  h\,^2v  (Yahweh  is 
Baal)  was  offensive  to  later  scribes,  and  was  intentionally  altered  to  iny. 
Iw/37?X  (for  IwjStjS^s  by  ^  common  uncial  error)  is  simply  nai;?;  cf.  i  Chr.  ii^^ 
(B)  I  Chr.  23"  (Aai.)  I  Chr.  267  (Aai.)  3  Chr.  23I  (^'ii).  So  here  codd.  of  ^ 
(ii^-qd^"  fijSiS^^  [S]w^7;5fi3  (dittogr.),  and  3L  Obed.J  — The  matter  is  of  some 
importance,  for  if  the  name  really  were  h';2V,  we  should  be  certain  that  Gaal 
was  an  Israelite,  independently  of  the  difficult  v.28.  —  dd^'D  nay^i]  '3  -i:3y,  pass 
through,  traverse ;  I  S.  9*  and  very  often.  Dt.  29",  which  is  cited  by  Be., 
al.  in  illustration  of  our  verse,  is  not  parallel;  nn33  I3y  is  probably  to  be 
explained  from  rites  like  those  referred  to  in  Jer.  34^^^-.  —  27.  □"•'piSn]  Lev. 
k/'*  *;  the  fruit  of  trees  in  the  fourth  year  of  their  bearing  is  niniS  o^SiSn  tt'ip.  § 
The  word  was  evidently  the  name  of  a  festive  celebration,  accompanied  proba- 
bly by  noisy  hilarity,  and  obligatory  shouting  in  honour  of  the  god.  See 
Sprenger,  Ijeben  Mohammad^  iii.  p.  527;    Lagarde,  Orientalia,  ii.  p.  13-20; 


*  So  Ki.,  Stud. ;  cf.  Be.  t  Cf.  also  We..  TBS.  p.  xii.  f. 

X  So  also  Hollenberg,  TLZ.  1891,  col.  371. 

^  On  the  reading  tj-^'^i'^n  and  the  rabbinical  interpretation  of  this  passage,  see 
Geiger,  Urschrift,  p.  i8i  ff.;   Malbiin  on  Sifra  in  loc.  (D'^l^np  \  67). 


IX.  28-29  257 

Mittheilungen,  i.  p.  227;  We.,  Prol'^.  iii.  p.  114,  and  esp.  Resle  arab.  Ifci- 
dentumes,  p.  107-109.  A  similar  feast  at  Shiloh,  Jud.  21 '■'«"■.  —  28.  On  this 
verse  see  Oort,  Godgelecrde  Bijdragen,  1866,  p.  991  ;'^  Kuenen,  Th.T.  i. 
p.  703  f.;  GvL  i.  p.  299  f.;  Wellhausen,  TBS.  p.  xiii.;  Comp.,  Nachtrage, 
p.  353  f.  n. ;  Stade,  GVL  i.  p.  194  f.;  W.  R.  Smith,  Th.  T.  xx.  1886,  p.  195-198; 
Kautzsch,  ZA  TIV.  x.  1890,  p.  299  f.;  Kittel,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  77  f.  — The  versions 
agree  substantially  with  |^.  ©  has  in  the  second  clause  Kal  tU  ianv  vlb^ 
^vxefi,  which  is  adopted  by  Oort,  Kue.,  Be.,  al.;  also  by  We.  (transposing 
son  of  Jerubbaal  and  son  of  Shechem)*  But,  as  W.  R.  Smith  rightly  urges, 
03^  n  does  not  mean  a  Shechemite ;  "the  expression  would  not  be  idiomatic 
even  if  the  Shechemites  as  a  whole  were  called  DDii'  "ija  instead  of  dx'  ^'^yj." 
Sta.  and  Bu.  therefore  return  in  this  particular  to  ilH.  Further  n3;r  was  read 
by  OIL  n^j;  hoxi\o<i  ayToO,t  beside  which  <&^^  has  the  doublet  KaTe8ov\w(TaTo 
rods  dvdpas  Efifjuop.  The  latter  is  adopted  by  We.  (nar),  Oort,  X  W.  R. 
Smith,  Sta.,  Bu.,  al.  We  should  then  translate :  Who  is  Abimelech  and  who 
Shechem,  that  we  should  be  subject  to  him?  By  all  means  let  the  son  of 
Jerubbaal  and  Zebul  his  lieutenant  subject  the  people  of  Ilamor  father  of 
Shechem.  But  why  should  we  (Israelites)  be  subject  to  him?  (WRS.,  Sta.). 
Kautzsch  would  emend  n3;;i :  Is  he  not  the  son  of  Jerubbaal,  and  Zebul  his 
lieutenant?  Well,  let  him  (Zebul)  serve  him  then,  together  with  the  Hamor- 
ites;  §  but  why  should  we  (Israelites)  serve  him?  Attempts  have  also  been 
made  to  relieve  the  difficulty  by  transposition :  W.  R.  Smith  thinks  that  v.^^f- 
ought  to  follow  immediately  on  v.^'^;  against  which  the  objections  of  Sta. 
{GVL  i.  p.  194  n.)  seem  conclusive.  Bu.  thinks  that  they  should  stand  after 
v.25.  These  critical  operations  seem  to  me  all  to  start  from  false  exegetical 
premises.  It  is  assumed,  originally  on  the  ground  of  an  erroneous  explanation 
of  (S's  Iw/St/X  =  S;;3V,  that  Gaal  was  an  Israelite,  and  that  he  stirred  up  the 
Israelite  part  of  the  population  to  revolt  against  the  rule  of  the  Shechemite 
king,  Abimelech.  Thus  W.  R.  Smith :  "  The  whole  verse  is  a  Hebrew  declara- 
tion of  revolt  against  the  king  of  Shechem  (9^),  who  for  three  years  has  by 
the  aid  of  his  mercenaries  tyrannized  over  Israel  (v.^^^.  So  too  in  v.'-^  nrn  D>'n 
is  Israel,  and  Gaal  closes  with  an  open  challenge  to  Abimelech  to  come  forth 
(evidently  from  Sheehem  his  capital)  to  meet  the  Israelites  in  the  field." 
These  assumptions  conflict  not  only  with  the  implications  of  the  narrative,  but 
with  its  plain  words.  Gaal  gains  the  confidence  of  the  DD'i'  "h^^  (v.-*^),  i.e.  of 
the  very  people  who  made  Abimelech  king  (y.^-^);  it  is  at  their  vintage 
festival,  at  the  temple  of  their  god,  that  he  makes  his  incendiary  speech. 
W.  R.  Smith  is  constrained,  therefore,  to  sever  the  verses  from  their  context 
and  remove  them  to  a  different  place.  If,  however,  we  follow  the  guidance 
of  the  context,  we  shall  see  that  Gaal  instigates  the  native  Shechemites,  with 

*  So  also  Oort,  Bible  for  Learners,  i.  p.  395  ;  Kitt. 

t  They  are  thereby  constrained  to  take  PN  as  prep.,  <tvv  toi?  avhpacn.v  E^/uwp. 
X  Oort,  Kue.,  al.  formerly  conjectured  nnr,  Let  the  I/amorites  serve  thnn! 
\  DDty  "'iN  is  a  gloss  from  Gen.  34c. 
S 


258  JUDGES 

whose  cause  he  identides  himself,  to  revolt  against  the  half-Israelite  Abime- 
lech ;  *  and  shall  have  no  occasion  for  a  more  radical  change  in  the  text  than 
to  pronounce  n^r  instead  of  n^jj;  cf.  I  S.  4^.t  The  antithesis  in  the  last  half- 
verse  is  not  between  unjN  and  iiDn  •'ii'jx;  it  is  between  linjN  and  'Ji  S>'3'-i>  p; 
This  son  of  Jerubbaal  and  his  lieutenant  Zebul  were  subjects  of  the  Hamor- 
ites;  why  should  we,  freemen  of  Shechem,  be  subjects  of  his?  —  29.  jni  ^D] 
Nu.  ii29  Jer.  8"^*  Dt.  28^^  2  S.  19I  Is.  27*  Dt.  520  Job  238  illustrate  different 
constructions  of  this  phrase.  See  also  SS.  p.  449  f.  —  ni>pNi]  that  I  might  get 
rid  of  Abimelech;  voluntative,  Dr^.  §62.  — I^donS  -idnh]  (g  koX  ipG),  npni; 
cf.  Sb,  whose  ambiguous  form  is  understood  by  a  as  first  person.  Doom., 
Reuss,  Kitt.,  Kautzsch,  emend  accordingly.  Cler.  would  give  the  vb.  an 
indefinite  subject,  so}?ie  one  told  Abimelech;  but  in  the  context  this  is  highly 
improbable.  —  n^i]  The  origin  of  this  anomalous  _  is  not  clear;  01.  §247 
suggests  that  it  may  be  instead  of  the  _  of  the  lengthened  imv.  (obs.  the  foil, 
nsx).  This  view  is  adopted  by  K6.  i.  p.  534,  but  as  there  is  no  other  instance 
of  this  imv.  in  n"S,  the  explanation  is  doubtful.  Some  codd.  and  edd.  have  _; 
see  JHMich. 

30-34.  Zebul  warns  Abimelech  that  treason  is  hatching.  — 

Zebul  informs  Abimelech  of  Gaal's  intrigues,  and  suggests  a  plan 
by  which  he  and  his  followers  may  be  drawn  into  an  engagement 
in  the  open  field.  —  30.  Zebul^  the  governor  of  the  city\  an  official 
(i-^r)  set  over  the  place  by  Abimelech  to  represent  him,  not  the 
burgomaster  of  the  town.  X  Wellhausen  regards  the  words  of 
Gaal  in  v.^,  Zebul^  his  lieutenant,  as  mere  abuse  and  insult ;  § 
Zebul  was  not  really  an  officer  of  Abimelech,  but  the  head  of  the 
Shechemites;  he  had  so  far  sympathized  with  the  movement 
against  Abimelech ;  Gaal,  in  order  to  supplant  him,  throws  sus- 
picion on  his  loyalty  to  the  Shechemite  cause  ;  Zebul  avenges  him- 
self by  betraying  Gaal  to  Abimelech.  ||    This  ingenious  hypothesis 

*  See  above,  p.  255. 

t  Winckler  conjectures  imN  n^y,  which  he  translates :  If  the  Hamorites  serve 
him,  &c. 

X  There  were  sar'im  at  Succoth  (86),  but  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  at  the 
liead  of  the  local  government  of  Canaanite  or  Israelite  cities  there  was  a  burgo- 
master or  mayor. 

§  Camp.,  p.  353  f.  n.;  followed  by  Kautzsch,  ZA  TW.  x.  p.  299. 

II  Only  so,  We.  argues,  can  we  comprehend  AbimeJech's  course  after  Gaal  had 
been  expelled  (v.^i).  He  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  deceived  by  Zebul's  pretence 
of  loyalty ;  the  latter  was  the  real  leader  of  the  revolt,  and  perished  in  the  fall  of 
the  city.  So  also  Kautzsch  and  Kitt.  But  if  v.4-'rt-  is  not  the  sequel  of  v.26-4l^  but 
another  account  of  the  fate  of  Shechem  from  a  different  source,  this  argument 
ceases  to  have  any  cogency.     See  further,  on  v.^i. 


IX.  30-54  2  59 

seems  to  me  to  conflict  with  the  language  of  our  verse,  and  with 
the  following  narrative  ;  see  on  v."^""'  *\  Zebul  had  no  force  at  his 
command  in  Shechem ;  it  was  not  garrisoned  Hke  a  concjuered 
city ;  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  a  loyal  official  could  have  acted 
differently  in  the  circumstances,  or  what  ground  there  is  for  imag- 
ining that  he  was  implicated  in  the  treason.  Whether  he  was  a 
Canaanite  or  an  Israelite  does  not  appear.  —  31.  //e  sent  mes- 
sengers to  Abimclech  .  .  .  saying\  the  word  omitted  in  translation 
is  anomalous  and  probably  corrupt ;  the  versions  generally  render, 
secretly,  or,  deceitfully,  perfidiously.  It  would  be  more  to  the  pur- 
pose to  have  the  name  of  the  place  where  Abimelech  made  his 
residence  ;  cf.  v.^\  at  Arumah  ;  see  note.  —  Gaal  arid  his  kins- 
men are  coming  to  Shechem,  and  are  plotting  to  take  the  city  from 
thee']  the  translation  of  the  last  words  is  based  on  the  context ; 
they  are  rendered  by  the  ancient  versions,  invest,  besiege  the  city 
against  thee,*  which  cannot  be  right.  Stir  up  the  city  to  hostility  \ 
would  suit  the  context,  but  is  unsupported.  —  32,  33.  Zebul 
counsels  Abimelech  to  come  by  night  and  concei\l  his  forces  in 
the  fields  near  the  city.  At  sunrise  he  shall  discover  himself  and 
advance  to  the  attack.  Gaal  and  his  followers  will  be  drawn  out 
of  the  city  to  give  battle  in  the  open  field,  and  Abimelech  will 
have  them  in  his  power.  — Thou  shall  do  to  him  as  the  occasion 
serves]  i  S.  lo^.  —  34.  Abimelech  adopts  Zebul's  plan  ;  and  dis- 
poses his  men  under  cover  in  four  divisions  ;  cf.  7^^  and  below,  v.*^. 

31.  HDins]  ©APVLMO  g  ^cT-d  hibpuiv  (nonn) ;  bn  ^„  KpxxpTj,  IL^T  clam, 
5  per  dotum ;  all  connecting  it  with  n"«Dnn,  'deceit,  fraud,'  •i::-^':,  id.  So 
Ra.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  Rosenm.,  Be.,  Cass.,  Kitt.,  Reuss.  But,  i.  n^-;n  is  an 
unexampled  and  really  inconceivable  type  of  noun  (Jos.  Kimchi).  2.  If  r\-2-\T\ 
were  a  synonym  of  nnnc,  the  text  would  not  say  that  Zebul  sent  secretly  to 
Abimelech  (inp2),  but  that  he  sent  deceitfully  or  fraudulently,  i.e.  with  intent 
to  deceive  him  (Stud.).  Jos.  Kimchi  regarded  it  as  the  name  of  a  place, 
identical  with  nonN  v.^i  (see  Ki.,  comm.  in  loc.)\  so  RLbG.,  Abarb.,  Tremell., 
Piscator;  cf.  Reland,  p.  585.  Some  modern  scholars  think  that  the  same 
name,  probably  Arumah,  should  be  read  in  both  places;  so  Stud.,  Doom. 
The  construction  with  2  would  then  be  explained,  he  sent  messengers  to  A., 
who  was  at  Arumah  (Stud.).  — l^Sy  -\^^r\  ns  D>nx  Djm]  ©bn  xepiKd^^vroi, 
APVLMO  TroXiopKoucri,  iL  oppugnat,  %  p-cx,  %  obsident ;  all  taking  |Q  correctly 


*This  is  probably  the  intention  of  ffl. 

t  Lth.,  Cler.,  Schm.,  Stud.,  Ke.,  Kitt.,  al.  mu. 


260  JUDGES 

as  ptcp.  of  ->ri.  The  construction,  however,  is  irregular;  besiege  is  not  "MS 
c.  ace,  but  S;^  nix.  The  forms  of  iis  and  nnx  l-  ^-  are  much  confused  in  the 
punctuation  (see  SS.  p.  621),  but  it  is  impossible  to  make  D>is  a  transitive 
derivative  of  >'T»  nor,  if  we  should  emend  Dnns,  would  the  only  sense  sup- 
ported by  usage, '  they  treat  the  city  in  a  hostile  manner,  attack  it,'  be  satis- 
factory; 'make  hostile,  incite  to  hostiUty,'  is  wholly  fictitious.  Stade  (SS. 
•p.  621"^)  conj.  in  this  sense  D^n>-::  D^n  (Hiph.  of  ins  "•),  "falls  nicht  grossere 
Verderbnis  vorhegt."  Possibly  the  author  wrote  anx,  '  lay  snares  for,  plot  to 
take';  y"-^';  would  then  be,  to  thy  detriment.  —  33.  Sy  £}-^'d]  v.**  2o37  (Sn) 
Job  ii";  of  a  body  of  men  suddenly  emerging  from  a  covered  position,  and 
rushing  to  storm  a  place  or  attack  an  enemy.  — 34.    D^trNi  nyjnx]  see  on  7I6. 

35-38.  Abimelech's  forces  appear  on  all  sides ;  Zebul  taunts 
the  braggart.  —  35.  In  the  morning  Gaal  goes  out  to  the  gate  of 
the  city.*  As  he  stands  there,  Abimelech  and  his  troops  discover 
themselves. —  36.  Gaal  descries  them  and  exclaims  to  Zebul,  See, 
there  is  a  body  of  7?ien  coming  down  from  the  tops  of  the  hills /~\ 
Zebul  replies,  Yoit  see  the  shadow  of  the  hills  as  men']  his  fears 
make  him  imagine  enemies  where  there  are  none ;  an  insinuation 
of  cowardice  which  is  succeeded  by  downright  insult.  —  37.  The 
enemy  comes  into  clearer  view;  Gaal  makes  out  the  divisions 
advancing  from  different  directions. — There  is  a  body  cofnifig  down 
frofn  near  the  Navel  of  the  Land,  and  one  division  is  advancing 
frotn  the  way  to  the  Diviner'' s  Tree~\  these  localities  are  unknown  : 
the  former  would  seem  to  be  a  sacred  hill ;  the  latter  is  a  sacred 
tree,  whose  name  {ineonenini)  indicates  that  it  was,  or  had  been, 
the  seat  of  a  certain  species  of  diviners ;  cf.  the  Moreh  Tree,t 
also  in  the  vicinity  of  Shechem  (Gen.  12^,  cf.  Jud.  7^),  and  the 
Massebah  Tree,  above  v.^.  The  latter  is  not  identical  with  the 
Meonenim  Tree  of  our  verse  ;  apart  from  the  difference  of  names, 
the  Massebah  Tree  was  in  all  probability  close  to  the  town,  which 
the  other,  as  our  verse  shows,  was  not.  Whether  the  Meonenim 
Tree  here  is  the  same  as  the  Moreh  Tree  of  Gen.  1 2^,  is  uncertain ; 
the  names  are  of  somewhat  similar,  but  not  the  same  meaning, 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  there  may  not  have  been  three,  or  a 
half  dozen,  well-known  sacred  trees  in  the  vicinity  of  Shechem.  — 
38.    Zebul's  irony  now  turns  to  open  taunt.  —  What  has  become  of 


*  Not,  marched  out  (Kitt.)  ;  he  did  not  suspect  the  presence  of  the  enemy, 
t  Perhaps  an  oracle-tree. 


IX.  35-41  26 1 

thy  bragging]  lit.  thy  (big)  mouth;  thy  boastful  words.  — /r/^^//  //^r;// 
^^/V/j-/,  ^/^^  />  Abimelcch]  w!^.  —  Are  not  these  the  ?nen  for  whom 
thou  didst  express  such  contempt?  March  out,  now,  and  fight  with 
them  /]  Zebul,  by  reminding  Gaal,  doubtless  in  the  presence  of 
many  bystanders  in  that  public  place,  of  his  former  boasts,  goads 
him  into  fighting.  He  had  indeed  no  choice  ;  if  he  declined  the 
challenge,  his  prestige  and  influence  in  Shechem  were  gone. 

39-41.  The  battle;  defeat  of  the  Shechemites.  — 39.  Gaal 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  citizens  of  Shechem  and  went  forth 
to  battle.*  —  40.  The  Shechemites  seem  to  have  made  no  stand 
against  Abimelech,  who  chased  them  to  the  very  gate  of  the  city, 
with  heavy  losses.  He  did  not,  however,  storm  the  place.  —  41. 
Abimelech  abode  in  Arumah]  if  this  name  is  to  be  restored  in  v.'^' 
(see  comm.  there),. he  returned  to  his  residence,  satisfied  with  the 
chastisement  he  had  inflicted  upon  the  Shechemites  for  hstening 
to  the  seductions  of  Gaal.  Arumah  is  not  otherwise  known  ;  on 
the  sole  ground  of  the  similarity  of  the  names  some  scholars 
identify  it  with  El-'Ormeh,  two  hours  SE.  of  Shechem. f  It  has 
been  conjectured  that  Arumah  is  the  same  as  Rumah  (2  K.  23'^'^), 
but  this  also  is  uncertain.  \  —  And  Zebul  expelled  Gaal  and  his 
kinsmen,  so  that  they  should  not  live  in  Shechem]  \\i.  frojn  living. 
We  can  well  imagine  that  in  the  smart  of  defeat  the  feelings  of 
the  Shechemites  toward  Gaal  underwent  a  sudden  revulsion,  and 
that  they  were  not  unwilling  to  see  him  made  a  scapegoat ;  per- 
haps also  thinking  that  this  would  suffice  to  placate  Abimelech. 
The  verse  manifestly  brings  the  story  to  an  end.  Abimelech 
resides  at  Arumah ;  Gaal  and  his  clan  are  banished  from  Shechem. 
As  the  original  close  of  the  account  of  Gaal's  insurrection  (J)  it  is 
perfectly  intelligible  and  appropriate.  But  it  is  just  the  opposite 
in  its  present  position.  After  the  withdrawal  of  Abimelech  and 
the  expulsion  of  Gaal,  the  fresh  attack  on  Shechem,  the  discom- 
fiture of  its  inhabitants  by  the  same  stratagem  which  had  been 

*  Not,  spectante  Sickimorum  poptilo  E,  Be. 

t  Van  de  Velde,  Narrative,  ii.  p.  303,  307;  ^^w^x'vcv,  Samarie,  ii.  2  f . ;  SWP. 
Memoirs,  ii.  p.  387,  402.     For  the  identification,  Raumer,  Miihlau,  Tristram,  al. 

X  The  Ruma  of  Euseb.  {OS'^.  2881,,),  in  the  vicinity  of  Diospolis,  cannot  be  the 
place  in  our  text.  There  was  another  Ruma  in  Galilee  (Fl.  Jos.,  b.j.  iii.  7.  21 
§  233).     <5  has  in  our  verse  Api^a. 


262  JUDGES 

employed  the  day  before,  and  the  destruction  of  the  city,  in 
which  his  authority  had  already  been  re-established,  are  inex- 
plicable. 

35.  n^pn  -\j?c  nno]  v.'**  Jos.  8^^  20*  and  often;  the  entrance  of  the  gate. 
The  -y^v  extends  the  whole  depth  of  the  wall,  often  many  feet;  nna  is  the 
outer  opening.  —  36.  d;;]  soldiery,  esp.  foot  soldiers;  4^^  —  37.  TINH  113^] 
©  dfx(pa\6s,  IL  uynbilicus ;  ?r5>  interpret  stronghold.  The  meaning  of  the 
noun  is  hardly  to  be  questioned  (Mishna,  Talm.);  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
applied  here  is  uncertain.  In  Ez.  3812,  t^g  only  other  place  where  it  occurs  in 
O.T.,  it  is  apphed  to  Judaea  as  the  centre  of  the  earth.  Comp.  the  d^i0aX6s  at 
Delphi;  twibilicus  Siciliae  (Cic.  contra  Verr.  iv.  106,  c.  48),  umbilicus  Grae- 
ciae  (Liv,,  xxxv.  18;  Stud.).  So  it  is  understood  here  by  Ki.,  RJes,;  an 
elevation  in  the  middle  of  the  district,  at  the  intersection  of  several  roads. 
We  should  have  in  any  case  to  suppose  that  it  had  become  a  proper  name;* 
but  should  hardly  compare  Mt.  'Ara^^piov  in  Rhodes  (Stud.).t  See  above  on 
818  (p.  228).  — D>jji;a  pSn]  Dt.  1 810- 14  Mi.  5";  cf.  pij7,  d^jjij;,  Is.  2^  Jer.  27^ 
2  K.  21^;  the  verb.  Lev.  ig^.  See  W.  R.  Smith,  Journal  of  Philology,  xiv. 
p.  118;  We.,  Reste  arab.  Heidenttmies,  p.  148  n.;  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  505.  What 
particular  kind  of  divination  these  D"'jJiyD  practised  is  not  clear.  The  root  is 
probably  ^y  (We.,  I.e.).  —  38.  «idn  h-^n]  where,  then;  Job  171^  Is.  ig^^.  On 
the  enclitic  ni£3N,  see  BDB.  s.v.  —  ^O.  D^S^'n]  i6"^*.  — 41.  2V^i\  ©^^"^  Kal 
iiri<7Tp€\pev  A.  /cai  eKdOiaev  ip  Apet/xa  =  HDnNJ  D^'^i  ^Sdon  3^m.  This  is  proba- 
bly only  a  Greek  doublet;  but  it  suggests  what  may  have  been  the  original 
reading  in  |Q. 

42-45.  Capture  and  destruction  of  Shechem.  —  The  next  day, 
when  the  Shechemites  came  out  of  the  city,  Abimelech  was  in 
waiting  for  them.  While  two  divisions  attacked  them  In  front, 
Abimelech  himself,  with  the  troops  under  his  personal  command, 
got  between  them  and  the  city  and  cut  off  their  retreat.  After  a 
day's  fighting,  Abimelech  carried  the  place  by  assault,  put  the 
inhabitants  to  the  sword,  destroyed  the  city,  and  sowed  the  ruins 
with  salt.  This  is  not  the  continuation  of  the  account  in  v.^^""*", 
which  has  its  formal  conclusion  in  v.'*^  We  cannot  imagine  why, 
after  their  disastrous  defeat  of  the  day  before  (v."'^^)  and  the  ex- 
pulsion of  Gaal  (v.''^),  the  Shechemites  took  the  field  again  (v.*^), 
.especially  as  Abimelech  had  withdrawn,  and  there  was  no  enemy 


•  Navel  of  the  lattd,  appellatively,  for  highest  point  (Ges.),  is  hardly  possible  in 
the  plain  prosu  of  this  story. 

t  Tl)c  Greek  name  corresponds  rather  to  Tabor. 


IX.  42-45  263 

in  sight.*  On  the  other  hand,  all  becomes  plain,  if  we  see  in 
v.'*2  the  original  sequel  of  v.^ :  Abimelech  learns  that  bands  of 
Shechemites  are  infesting  the  neighbourhood,  robbing  and  plunder- 
ing on  the  highways,  and  takes  measures  to  punish  them.  The 
next  day,  when  they  set  out  on  such  a  predatory  excursion,  he  is 
informed  by  his  scouts,  and  lays  an  ambush  for  them.  They, 
not  suspecting  the  proximity  of  the  enemy,  foil  into  the  snare  and 
are  cut  to  pieces.  The  city,  weakened  by  the  absence  of  a  large 
part  of  its  defenders,  falls.  Verses  ^-'"^  are  therefore  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  same  source  with  v.^"-^  (E).  —  42.  On  the  followiui:;  day\ 
in  the  present  connexion,  the  day  after  their  defeat  and  the 
expulsion  of  Gaal ;  in  the  original  context  (E),  the  day  after  Abim- 
elech was  apprised  that  they  had  begun  their  guerrilla  warfare ; 
see  above.  — The  people  went  out  into  the  country']  on  an  expedition 
like  that  described  in  v.^^. — 43.  He  concealed  his  forces  in  three 
divisions  (7^^  9^),  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city.  When  the 
Shechemites  came  out  of  the  city,  and  had  got  to  some  distance 
from  it,  he  rose  from  his  ambush  and  attacked  them.  —  44.  More 
particular  account  of  the  execution  of  his  stratagem.  —  Abiviekch 
a7id  the  body  which  was  with  hini']  under  his  immediate  command  ; 
cum  cuneo  suo  3L.  |^,  by  mistake,  the  bodies.  —  Made  a  dash 
and  took  their  stand  at  the  gate']  cutting  off  the  retreat  of  those 
who  had  gone  on  the  expedition,  and  preventing  a  sally  from  the 
town  to  relieve  them.  —  While  the  other  two  divisions  rushed  upon 
all  who  were  in  the  fields  and  killed  them~\  the  stratagem  has  some 
resemblance  to  that  employed  at  the  taking  ofAi  (Jos.  8).t  — 
45.  After  a  whole  day's  fighting,  Abimelech  took  the  city,  put  the 
inhabitants  to  the  sword,  pulled  down  the  city,  and  sowed  the  site 
with  salt.  Sowing  with  salt  seems  to  be  a  symbol  of  perpetual 
desolation ;  nothing  should  henceforward  thrive  there  ;  cf.  Dt.  29-* 
Jer.  17^  Ps.  107**.  There  is  no  other  trace  in  the  O.T.  of  such 
a  custom.  J  If  Shechem  was  really  destroyed  at  this  time,  it  is 
not  to  be  supposed  that  it  long  lay  in  ruins ;  its  position  was  too 

*  Fl.  Jos.  imagines  that  they  went  out  to  work  in  the  vineyards  (v.2'')  ;  so  Ra.. 
Schm.,  Stud.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Reuss,  al.  mu.  Of  the  older  interpreters,  Junius  and 
Piscator  controvert  this  opinion ;  see  Schm.  t  In  both  accounts,  J  and  E. 

+  See  Thdt.,  quacst.  i8 ;  Bochart,  Hicrozoicon,  ii.  p.  223  f.,  ed.  Rosenmullcr. 
Salt  ground  is  in  Hebrew  equivalent  to  desert. 


264  JUDGES 

advantageous,  its  vicinity  too  fertile  for  that.  It  was  an  important 
place  in  the  early  days  of  the  kingdom  (i  K.  12^),  and  was 
rebuilt  and  fortified  by  Jeroboam  (i  K.  12^^).  A  stratagem  similar 
to  that  employed  by  Abimelech  against  Shechem  is  said  to  have 
been  practised  by  Himilco  against  Agrigentum,  and  by  Hannibal 
against  Segesta.* 

44.  my  "\CN  □"'tt'X-ini]  (3^^  v  dpxv  V  t^^''''  clvtov,  It  cum  cuneo  stio,  as  the 
sense  requires;  f  ©'^^-"^  apxo-l"  ^^  ol  apx'n'^ol,  an  attempt  to  get  around  the 
text  which  is  repeated  by  Ki.,  RLbG.  Other  ingenious  exegetical  conjectures, 
the  common  feature  of  which  is  that  the  interpreter  supplies  what,  if  he  were 
right,  the  writer  must  have  said  expressly,  may  be  seen  in  Abarb.,  Schm.,  Cler., 
Be.,  al.  Emend,  CNin  (JDMich.,  Reuss,  Kautzsch,  al.) ;  o^tyjNn  (Stud.)  would 
remove  the  difficulty,  but  is  on  critical  grounds  not  so  probable.  —  45.  nyn?">) 
nVn]  cf.  nnSn,  nnVa  y-\n  Jer.  176  Job  39^  Ps.  1078*. 

46-49.  Destruction  of  the  Tower  of  Shechem.  —  The  people 
of  the  Tower  of  Shechem,  hearing  of  the  fate  of  the  city,  take 
refuge  in  the  temple  of  El-berith.  Abimelech  burns  their  asylum 
over  their  heads,  and  they  perish  in  the  flames.  —  The  verses  are 
apparently  a  continuation  of  the  preceding  narrative  of  the  de- 
struction of  Shechem. —  46.  When  the  inhabitants  of  the  Tower  of 
Shechem  heard  it'\  what  Abimelech  had  done  to  the  city.  The 
Tower  of  Shechem  (Migdal-Shechem)  was  not  a  citadel  within 
the  city,  like  that  at  Thebez  (v;^^),  in  which  the  people  took 
refuge  when  the  city  was  captured,  but  an  unwalled  town  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Shechem,  though  not  immediately  adjacent  to  it. 
It  owed  its  name  to  a  tower  which  stood  there,  %  and  was  the  site 
of  the  temple  of  El-berith.  Its  inhabitants  were  Shechemites,  who 
had  joined  in  the  insurrection  against  Abimelech,  and  now,  with 
good  reason,  feared  his  vengeance.  As  in  v.^-*^  the  people  of 
Beth-millo  join  with  those  of  Shechem  in  making  Abimelech  king, 
it  has  often  been  thought  that  the  same  place  is  meant  here ;  § 
but  there  is  no  obvious  grotand  for  this,  while  the  difference  of 
names  is  decidedly  against  it.  The  situation  of  the  Tower  of 
Shechem  is  not  known ;  from  v."*^*  it  may  perhaps  be  inferred  that 

*  Frontinus,  Strategem.,  iii.  lo,  4,  5  (Cass,);  see  also  Polyaenus,  v.  10,  4. 
t  So  also  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  7,  4  ^  247.  +  Cf.  the  tower  of  Penuel,  88-17. 

\  So,  after  Scrarius  and  other  older  scholars,  Stud.,  Be.,  Ke.,  Reuss,  al.  Millo 
also  is  supposed  to  be  the  name  of  some  kind  of  fortification :  see  on  v.6. 


IX.  45-49  265 

it  was,  like  Shechem  itself,  in  the  valley,  or  on  the  lower  slopes  of 
one  of  its  sides.  —  Tliey  went  i?ito  the  .  .  .  of  the  temple  of 
El-berit]i\  the  meaning  of  the  word  passed  over  in  the  translation 
is  entirely  unknown.  Some  of  the  ancient  versions  render,  strong- 
hold,* and  many  modern  scholars  think  that  they  find  etymologi- 
cal support  for  the  interpretation,  tower,  citadel.  In  i  S.  13", 
however,  the  only  other  passage  in  which  the  word  occurs,  it 
clearly  denotes  a  hiding-pkice,  not  a  fort.  Others  think,  therefore, 
of  an  artificial  cave,  or  underground  chamber;  but  this  also  is 
based  on  a  somewhat  remote  etymology,  and  does  not  altogether 
suit  the  requirements  of  v."*^.  —  For  El-berith  some  Greek  texts 
have  Baal-berith,  as  in  v.''.  It  is  not  certain  that  the  same  temple 
is  meant.  The  temple  of  El-berith  at  the  Tower  of  Shechem  was 
apparently  not  immediately  adjacent  to  the  city;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  not  very  probable  that  there  were  two  temples  in  the 
same  vicinity  dedicated  to  the  same  divinity.t  The  difference  of 
the  names  signifies  little.  In  early  times,  they  were  substantially 
equivalent,  the  el  {iiumen)  which  was  worshipped  at  a  place  was 
naturally  its  bdal  (the  divinity  of  the  place) .  It  is  also  possible 
that  El  is  here  a  later  substitution  for  Baal.  %  —  47.  Abimelech 
learns  that  the  people  of  the  Tower  of  Shechem  are  all  gathered  in 
one  place.  —  48.  He  leads  his  men  to  a  hill  hard  by,  to  get  wood 
to  set  their  asylum  on  fire. — Mt.  Zalmon']  the  situation  of  this 
hill  is  not  known.  §  To  identify  it,  on  the  strength  of  the  name, 
with  the  southern  peak  of  Gerizim,  on  which  stands  the  tomb  of 
a  Moslem  saint,  Sheikh  Selman  el-FarsI,  is  an  absurdity.  —  With 
his  axe,  Abimelech  cut  branches  of  trees,  put  them  upon  his 
shoulder,  and  bade  his  men  with  all  speed  follow  his  example.  — 
49.  Every  man  with  his  load  of  brush  on  his  shoulder,  they  return 
with  Abimelech,  pile  the  wood  against  the  place  in  which  the 


*  ©,  E  (v.49) ;  so  Lth.,  EV.,  al.  mu. 

t  Temples,  that  is,  houses  for  the  god,  can  hardly  have  been  very  numerous  in 
those  days.  At  most  places  of  worship  there  was  probably  only  an  altar  under 
the  open  sky,  with  its  accessories,  the  sacred  stones  and  posts,  which  required  no 
housing.  The  temple,  in  Canaan  as  in  Greece,  originally  existed  only  where  there 
was  an  idol  to  keep  in  it.     See  E.  Meyer,  Gesch.  d.  Altcrthtims,  ii.  p.  429  f. 

X  Cf.  Eljada,  the  son  of  David,  for  Baaljada ;  cf.  above,  p.  195. 

^  Mt.  Salmon,  Ps.  68i-»,  is  more  probably  east  of  the  Jordan ;  see  Wetzstein, 
quoted  by  Guthe,  ZDPV.  xii.  1890,  p.  230  t 


266  JUDGES 

Shechemites  had  taken  refuge,  and  set  it  on  fire.  About  a  thou- 
sand men  and  women  perish  in  the  flames. 

46.  ma  *?«  no  nnx  Sn]  nns  v.^abis^  plur.  Din-^x  i  S.  i^^K  The  ancient 
versions  apparently  render  from  the  context,  stronghold  ((5  oxu/ow/xa*  3L 
praesidiuvi).  Many  modern  lexx.  and  comm.  interpret,  tower,  citadel  (Ki,, 
RLbG,,  Cler.,  Simon.,  Ges.,  MV.,  al.),  following  Abulwalid,  who  compares 

Arab.  ^  w«0,t  a  large,  high  building,  standing  apart  (  TA.^.    De  Dieu  referred 

to  the  Eth.  in  the  sense  of  tipper  story  or  roo77i ;  JDMich.  in  that  of  te?nple, 
thinking  of  an  open  court  in  the  interior  of  the  temple,  while  Stud,  under- 
stands the  vab^  itself.  Both  these  explanations  are  far-fetched;  neither  really 
gives  us  what  is  wanted  here  (cf.  v.^^),  and  neither  is  conceivable  in  i  S.  13^, 
where  the  cms  are  places  of  concealment  (named  with  caves,  holes,  cliffs, 
pits),  as  all  the  versions  rightly  understand.  J  Ra.  refers  to  older  Jewish  inter- 
preters who  take  the  word  in  the  sense,  underground  chambers  (voutes')  ;  he 
himself  explains  it  in  both  places  as  a  stockade  {palissades).  Modern  scholars 
have  compared  the  Arab.  ^^  wO  *  grave,  narrow  excavation  for  the  body  at 

the  bottom  of  the  grave.'  §  The  word  occurs  also  in  the  Nabataean  inscrip- 
tions from  Teima,  Nnn]f,  where  it  appears  to  be  a  grave  or  sepulchral  chamber 
excavated  in  the  rock  (Doughty,  Documents  epigraphiques,  83. 4  =  Euting, 
Nabat'dische  Inschriften,  153.4;  cf.  Noldeke,  ib.  p.  55).  ||  From  this  it  has 
been  inferred  that  the  Heb.  n>-is  meant  an  excavation  in  the  earth  or  rock, 
perhaps  made  as  a  place  of  refuge.  But  although  this  would  suit  the  context 
in  Samuel  well  enough,  it  is  hardly  possible  in  our  passage  (cf.  v.^^),  and  the 
whole  etymological  construction  is  very  dubious.  —  nna  Sn  no]  (S^^  BaaX 
diadifiK7]$,  P  BaaX  Bepeid,  ^  HX  diadriKrjs,  %  fanum  del  sui  Berith.  —  48,    nn 

*  Another,  atcpa  ;    0   (ffiBN  o-uve'Aevo-ig. 
o    ^ 

t  Synonym  of    -,«ai*.     Cf.  Qoran,  2888  4088  (tower  reaching  to  heaven)  27^4. 

So  in  Sabaean,  nns,  nm s  ( CIS.  Pt.  iv.  I4 ;  Hal6vy  3533,  in  Hommel,  Sudarabische 
Chrestomathie,  p.  96),  and  Eth.,  in  which  the  word  means  a  conspicuous  building 
(temple,  palace),  also  the  upper  story  or  chamber  of  a  house  (like  Heb.  ni'?;;, 
e.g.  Jud.  320-2.'5).  In  none  of  these  languages  does  the  signification  '  citadel,  tower 
for  defence'  seem  to  be  demonstrable.  (Of  a  watch-tower,  in  Arab.  Polyglott, 
2K.  i8«). 

t  ©  ^60po^  H  mitra  ©  caverns  in  the  rock  &  chasms.  In  Jud.  9^6  also  an  anony- 
mous translator  renders  dcTpovT 

^  In  distinction  from  an  excavation  at  the  side  {lahd) ;  see  Ibn  Hisham,  p.  1019. 
Illustrations  of  these  two  modes  of  burial,  from  Cyprus,  see  Perrot  et  Chipiez, 
La  Grccc  primitive,  p.  649. 

II  The  Nnnx  is  distinguished  from  the  N^nu,  niches.  See  also  G.  Hoffmann, 
7.A.  1S94,  p.  329  ff.  S.  Rau  {De  aedibus  Hebraeorum,  1764,  p.  4,  c.  JDMich.,  Sup- 
plcmenta,  p.  2151)  conjectured  that  for  nn"'ns  Ps.  687,  which  OILS  render  grave, 
nnni-  should  be-  read ;  cf.  also  SS.  p.  623. 


IX.  50-5I  26; 

PdSx]  ©■'^BLN  Ep/tAWJ/  "*  Aepfiuv  (Hermon);  an  old  error;  Eusch.  OS^.  29573 
SeVcji/.  —  nimnpn]  Jer.  46'--^  Ps.  74^.  The  plur.  is  difficult.  There  is  no 
evidence  or  probability  that  the  plur.  was  used  of  a  single  axe  (Be.;  originally 
bipefinis.  Stud.),  and  the  explanation  of  Schm.,  al.,  that  Abimelech  took  a 
number  of  axes  to  distribute  to  his  followers,  is  an  ingenious  but  improbable 
exegetical  maJceshift.  We  expect  imnp  i  S.  13-'^;  cf.  ©apvlmo  u,.  — n^v^:' 
D^x;]  r\yv  v.-^'J*,  MIL  njiD  (Aram.,  Syr.).  It  is  generally  rendered  branch 
(©BN  li^)^  but  in  view  of  a>x;  it  should  perhaps  be  taken  as  collective,  brush  ; 
cf.  (jgAai.  <popTlov,  Fl.  Jos.,  (fxxKeWoi*  Probably  cxj?  is  not  irees,  hni /re- 
zvood  (6''2*^) .  —  ^T\>'VV  on^N-i  nn]  object  clause  without  conjunction,  Ges.'-^  §  1 57  « J 
Roorda,  §  523.  In  English  also  it  is  possible  to  say,  What  you  saw  I  did,  &c.; 
cf.  the  brachylogy,  7^^.  —  itry  •r\T\T:i'\  do  quickly.  In  this  verbal  apposition,  the 
first  verb  is  of  secondary  (adverbial)  importance  in  the  sentence.— 49.  naa*] 
ilH  pronounces  r^yc,  his  branch.  Ki.  explains  this  as  contracted  for  '^T^yv,  or 
as  made  from  a  corresponding  masc.  ir-.f  If  the  suffix  were  indispensable  in 
this  distributive  phrase,  as  Be.  contends,  it  would  be  necessary  either  to  accept 
the  latter  explanation,  or  to  emend  inDity;  cf.,  however,  Ex.  I23  Job  42I1. 
Doom,  pronounces  ry^\z>,  a  branch.  —  u-Ni  n-^-^-^r^  hn  dh^S];  ih^xm]  n^sn  is  con- 
strued, like  its  English  equivalent,  in  two  ways:  set  something  on  fire  (w'N3), 
or  set  fire  to  (2,  rarely  Sy)  something.  The  suff.  in  on^V;  cannot  refer  to  n^v^', 
but  to  the  people. 

50-55.  Abimelech  attacks  Thebez.  —  While  assaulting  its  cita- 
del he  is  mortally  hurt,  and  dies  by  the  hand  of  his  armour-bearer. 
His  followers  disperse.  —  50.  Abimelech  ivent  to  Thebez']  from  the 
connexion  we  should  infer  that  the  attack  upon  Thebez  followed 
immediately  the  destruction  of  the  Tower  of  Shechem ;  and 
probably,  further,  that  Thebez  had  previously  been  subject  to  him, 
and  had  joined  in  the  revolt  set  on  foot  by  Shechem.  Thebez, 
which  is  mentioned  only  here  and  in  the  reference  to  this  story 
2  S.  1 1^\  is  put  by  Eusebius  thirteen  miles  from  Neapolis  on  the 
road  to  Scythopolis.  J  Robinson  identified  it  with  the  modem 
lubas,  a  large  village  in  a  very  beautiful  situation.  §  —51.  There 
was  a  castle  within  the  city]  lit.  a  tower  of  stronghold;  cf.  the 
figurative  use  of  the  phrase,  Ps.  61^  Prov.  i?>'\  —  All  the  men  and 
women,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  town]  Heb.  and  all  the  inhab- 
itants (freemen)  ;  1|   commonly  explained  as  an  explicative  use  of 


*  Cf  Cler.,  Stud.  t  A  masc.  is  found  in  MH.  \  OS'^.  26244. 

&  BJ^  ii  p  317  iii-  P-  3o5-  On  the  place  see  also  Gu6rin,  Samani^,  i.  357-359: 
SIVP  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  229.  'Ihc  place  had  been  identified  long  before  Robinson,  by 
Eshtori  Parchi  (fol.  66b  end).  U  See  above,  on  9'^. 


268  JUDGES 

the  particle  {even) ;  see  note.  —  And  went  up  on  the  roof  of  the 
tower]  no  doubt  it  had  a  flat  earthen  roof,  with  a  parapet,  from 
which  they  could  defend  it.  —  52.  Abimelech  led  the  attack  on 
the  tower.  —  He  ca?ne  close  up  to  the  door  to  burti  it]  it  was  too 
strong  to  be  forced.  Cf.  v.'*^.  —  53.  A  certain  woman  threw  an 
upper  mills  tone]  the  upper,  movable  stone  of  a  hand  mill,  a  foot 
or  upwards  in  diameter  and  perhaps  two  inches  thick,  made  of 
the  hardest  kind  of  stone.*  It  was  a  woman's  implement  and  a 
woman's  weapon,  but  its  weight  made  it  a  formidable  missile  when 
hurled  from  the  height  of  the  tower.  —  Sfnashed  his  skull]  so 
Pyrrhus  of  Epirus  is  said  to  have  been  killed  at  Argos.  He  had 
forced  his  way  into  the  city,  and,  in  the  street  fighting  which  fol- 
lowed, his  head  was  broken  by  a  tile  thrown  by  a  woman  from  the 
roof  of  a  house. t  —  54.  To  perish  by  the  hand  of  a  woman  was 
an  ignominy  worse  than  death ;  in  all  haste  he  calls  on  a  man  to 
despatch  him.  —  His  attendant  armour-bearer]  all  warriors  of  dis- 
tinction had  such  a  squire;  cf.  7^  i  S.  14*^^-  16^^  3i'''^.  —  Lest  men 
say  of  mcj  A  woman  killed  him]  the  older  commentators  com- 
pare the  words  of  the  tortured  Hercules  in  the  Trachiniae  of 
Sophocles,  1.  1062  f . : 

'^vvT)  8^,   67j\vs  (pvcra  kovk  dvdpb^  <pv<Tiv, 
jxbvri  fxe  dr]  KadeiXe  (paaydvov  dix^i 

and  the  imitation  of  the  passage  in  Seneca's  Hercules  Oetaeus 
(1.  1 180  ff.),  in  which  the  resemblance  to  our  verse  is  closer: 
dirus  o  nobis  pudor  |  o  turpe  fatum.  femina  herculeae  necis  |  auctor 
feretur,  morior  Alcides  quibus.  %  —  His  squire  ran  hiin  through] 
compare  the  death  of  Saul,  i  S.  31^  —  55.  The  men  ^  Israel 
saw  that  Abimelech  was  dead]  the  soldiers  who  fought  under 
Abimelech  against  Thebez,  and  therefore  presumably  against 
Shechem,  were  Israelites.  The  point,  as  Wellhausen  has  noted,  § 
is  of  prime  importance  for  the  understanding  of  the  story.  It 
confirms  the  interpretation  we  have  adopted  above,  that  the  revolt 
of    Shechem    was   a   Canaanite    movement.      They   had    raised 

*  Descriptions  of  these  mills,  Thomson,  Land  and  Book"^,  i.  p.  107  f. ;  Wilkinson, 
Ancient  E^trypt,  i.  p.  358  f.  (ed.  Birch)  ;  cf.  Hoheisel  and  Goetz  in  Ugolini,  The- 
saurus, xxix.  The  upper  stone  of  such  a  mill  in  the  Museum  of  Andover  Seminary 
weighs  about  27  pounds.  t  Paus.,  i.  13,  7  ;  Plut.,  Pyrrhus,  34. 

X  Cf.  also  Judith,  i6G-'J  (S-ii).  ^  Comp.,  p.  353, 


^x.  51-56  269 

Abimelech  to  power  because  he  was  one  of  themselves ;  they 
tried  to  throw  off  his  yoke  when  they  found  that  he  was,  after  all, 
his  father's  son.  Whether  the  Israehtes  who  formed  Abimelech's 
army  were  his  subjects  (v.^-),  or  whether  they  took  his  side  in  the 
conflict  against  the  Shechemites,  because  he  was  an  Israelite,  and 
Jerubbaal's  son,  the  too  brief  story  does  not  tell  us. 

51.  li?  Sijd]  tj?  in  this  sense  is  prob.  originally  derived  from  ny  =  jLc 
{77ied.  «),  'take  refuge'  (cf.  ?i;7D  (i^  jULo);  but  it  has  become  confused 
with  vi  from  rry,  y.&;  see  SS.  p.  497  a;  JDMich.,  Supplementa,  p.  53  ff._ 
-\>i:n  >Sy2  Sdi]  cf.  iqIo  2o2«.  The  examples  of  this  7vaw  explicativum  (Ew. 
§  340  b\  Ges.25  §  154  n.  b),  at  least  in  the  older  writers  in  the  O.T.,  are  most 
of  them,  for  one  reason  or  another,  dubious.  In  the  present  instance  it  is 
possible  that  the  conjunction  was  inserted  by  a  scribe  who  understood  •''^;'3 
-\^';r\  as  ©^^  ^^-  IL  did,  ol  TjyoviJLevoi  ttj$  irdXem,  instead  of  citizens.  The  author 
may  have  written,  "  All  the  men  and  women,  —  all  the  citizens  of  the  town  " 
(comprehensive  apposition).  A  more  radical  conjecture  would  be  that  the 
last  words,  which  are  lacking  in  (Q^,  are  an  addition  by  a  later  hand;  it  is 
likely,  however,  that  the  omission  in  (g^  is  accidental;  cf.  N.  —  53,  ^nN  nrNJ 
see  note  on  13^.  —  3pi  nVs]  2  S.  ii'-^i,  the  upper  stone,  also  called  simply  33-1, 
'the  rider,'  Dt.  24^;  opp.  rrrinn  nSo  Job  411*^.  The  mill  is  D>ni;  the  two 
stones  are  perh.  called  nSa  because  the  mill  is  clefi  between  them.  —  V"^rii]  a 
wholly  anomalous  form;  Ew.,  Bo.,  K6.,  regard  the  punctuation  as  an  attempt 
to  discriminate  from  inni  (from  ]'n),  comparing  Dn-i  Ex.  16-'^  (2:21);  but, 
if  this  were  really  the  motive,  we  should  expect  more  frequent  instances  of 
such  discrimination.  Moreover,  the  device  in  this  case  would  be  peculiarly 
ill-chosen,  since  i  is  properly  the  vowel  of  Hiph.  r;?;  it  has  in  fact  misled  Ki., 
who  derives  the  form  from  Y^•\.  —  nVjSj]  skull,  2  K.  98^  i  c^r,  iqW  (prob. 
textual  error);  elsewhere  only  in  reckoning  per  capita  (P  and  Chr.). — 
54.  nnnn]  adverbial  accus. ;  on  the  position  of  the  word  see  SS.  s.v.  —  "'p"'] 
I  S.  31-*  =  I  Chr.  10*  Nu.  258  &c.  (MH.) ;  the  specific  word  for  '  run  through, 
transfix.' 

56,  57.  The  moral  of  the  history.  —  The  destruction  of  She- 
chem  and  the  death  of  Abimelech  was  a  divine  retribution  for 
their  crime  against  Jerubbaal's  house,  the  fulfilment  of  Jotham's 
curse  (v.^).  There  is  no  trace  of  the  characteristic  pragmatism 
of  D  ;  the  verses  may  with  probability  be  ascribed  to  E.* 

56.  God  requited  the  crime  of  Abifnclech,  ivhich  he  committed 
against  his  father  in  killing  his  seventy  brothers']   lit.  made  it  come 

*  Budde. 


2/0  JUDGES 

back  on  Abimelech^  the  complement,  tcpon  his  he  Ad  (i  S.  25^),  is 
expressed  only  in  the  following  sentence,  but  psychologically 
belongs  to  both. — 57.  And  all  the  wickedness  of  the  Shechemites 
God  requited  upon  their  heads  ^  and  the  curse  of  Jot  ha  fn  the  son  of 
Jerubbaal  came  true  to  them']  was  fulfilled ;  with  the  verb  cf. 
I  S.  9«  Dt.  13^  Is.  s^^&c. 

X.  1-5.  The  Minor  Judges:  Tola  and  Jair.*— Tola  (v.^^)  and 
Jair  (v.^-^),  with  Ibzan,  Elon,  and  Abdon  (12^-^^),  form  a  group  of 
five  judges  (with  whom  Shamgar,  3^^  is  often  reckoned  as  the 
sixth),  of  whose  exploits  nothing  is  related.  These  judges  are 
introduced  in  standing  formulas  entirely  different  from  those 
which  form  the  setting  of  the  stories  of  [Othniel],  Ehud,  Deborah 
and  Barak,  Gideon,  Jephthah,  and  Samson,  and  exhibit  no  trace 
of  D's  distinctive  pragmatism.  The  character  of  the  scheme  of 
the  Minor  Judges  is  best  exempHfied  by  the  notice  of  Elon 
( 1 2""^-)  ,t  which  contains  absolutely  nothing  else  :  "  And  there 
judged  Israel  after  him,  Elon  the  Zebulonite ;  and  he  judged 
Israel  ten  years.  And  Elon  the  Zebulonite  died,  and  was  buried 
in  Aijalon  in  the  land  of  Zebulun."  The  notices  of  Tola  and  Jair 
differ  from  this  pattern  only  in  the  opening  words,  "  There  arose 
after  him."  Besides  the  name  and  origin  of  the  judge,  the  years 
of  his  rule,  and  the  place  of  his  burial,  we  have  in  the  case  of  three 
of  them  (Jair,  Ibzan,  and  Abdon)  the  number  of  their  sons,  sons 
and  daughters,  sons  and  grandsons ;  evidence  that  they  were 
persons  of  raiik  and  consequence.  The  names  of  Tola,  Jair,  and 
Elon  occur  elsewhere  in  the  genealogical  systems.  Tola  is  a  son 
of  Issachar  (Gen.  46^^  Nu.  26^),  that  is,  a  clan  (Nu.  Ic),  and, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  i  Chr.  7^**-,  the  leading  clan,  of  that  tribe ; 
Puah,  here  his  father,  appears  in  the  lists  as  his  brother,  that  is, 
another  clan  of  Issachar.  Elon  is  a  son  (clan)  of  Zebulun  (Gen. 
46'*  Nu.  26-'^)  ;  and  the  name  of  his  burial  place,  though  differ- 
ently pronounced  by  iJJl,  is  doubtless  the  same,  the  chief  seat  of 


*  On  the  so-called  "  Minor  Judges "  see  Noldeke,  Untcrsuchungen  zur  Kritik 
des  A.  T.,  1869,  p.  181-184;  Wellhausen,  Prolegomena^,  p.  238,  Comp.,  p.  217  f.  356; 
Stade,  GVI.  i.  p.  69;  Budde,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  96-98;  Cornill,  Einl'K,  p.  99  f. ; 
Kittel,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  9-14.     See  also  Introduction,  ^  7. 

t  As  that  of  the  other  judges  by  Othniel;  above,  p.  84,  and  Introduction,  ^  4. 


IX.  56.     X  271 

the  clan.  Jair  is  a  son  of  Manasseh  (Nu.  32''^  Dt.  3''  i  K.  4''')  ; 
in  another  place  (i  Chr.  2-'-"''),  a  great  grandson  of  Judah  on  his 
father's  side,  and  of  Machir  ben  Manasseh  on  his  mother's.  The 
identity  of  the  Jair  named  in  all  these  places  with  the  judge  in 
our  text  is  proved  by  the  constant  association  with  the  Havoth- 
jair  (villages  of  Jair)  in  Gilead ;  see  on  v.".  The  names  of  Ibzan 
and  Abdon  do  not  occur  elsewhere,  but  the  mention  of  their 
numerous  posterity  has  naturally  the  same  significance  as  in  the 
case  of  Jair;  they  are  extensive  clans  with  numerous  branches  and 
alliances.  Their  prosperity  and  dignity  are  symbolized  by  the 
fact  that  their  sons  and  grandsons  rode  upon  asses.  In  the  case 
of  all  five  of  these  Minor  Judges,  therefore,  we  probably  have,  not 
the  names  of  individuals,  but  of  clans.*  The  chronological 
scheme  of  the  Minor  Judges  also  differs  from  that  of  the  others. 
Elsewhere  we  find  uniformly,  first,  the  duration  of  the  oppression  ; 
second,  the  duration  of  the  period  of  security  under  the  judge  ; 
there  is  an  interregnum  between  each  judge  and  the  next.  In 
the  case  of  the  Minor  Judges,  on  the  contrary,  we  have  only  the 
number  of  years  each  judged  Israel,  and  there  is  no  intimation  of 
an  interval  between  them ;  the  formula,  And  after  him,  implies, 
rather,  that  the  writer  meant  to  represent  their  rule  as  consecutive. 
The  first  of  these  ways  of  reckoning  corresponds  to  D's  whole 
construction  of  the  history  as  a  rhythmical  succession  of  apostasy, 
with  consequent  oppression  and  deliverance,  and  the  chronolog- 
ical data  appear  imbedded  in  his  formulas ;  the  second  does  not 
accord  with  this  theory.  Moreover,  the  seventy  years  assigned  to 
the  Minor  Judges  appear  to  be  independent  of  the  systematic  chro- 
nology of  the  book,  and  to  disturb  its  symmetry.  It  has  been 
inferred  from  this  that  the  Minor  Judges  were  introduced  into  the 
book  by  a  hand  later  than  the  Deuteronomic  author  (D).!  The 
question  is  one  of  considerable  difficulty ;  it  can  be  advan- 
tageously discussed  only  in  connexion  with  the  problems  of  the 
chronology  and  composition  of  the  book  in  general ;  see  Intro- 
duction, §§  4,  6,  7. 

*  This  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  that  individuals  may  have  borne  these 
names  (cf.  above  on  s^^ff.,  p.  91)  ;  but  for  the  author  of  the  notices  in  the  Book  of 
Judges  the  individual  is  clearly  lost  in  the  clan. 

t  So  We..  Sta.,  Bu.,  Co.     Against  this  inference  sec  Kue.,  II CO^.  p.  342;  Kitt. 


272  JUDGES 

Of  the  source  from  which  these  notices  are  derived  we  can 
affirm  nothing. 

1.  Tola.  —  There  arose  after  Abinielech  to  deliver  Israet~\  ac- 
cording to  Budde's  not  improbable  hypothesis,  the  same  hand 
(the  last  editor)  restored  ch.  9,  which  D  had  omitted,*  and  intro- 
duced the  Minor  Judges.  —  To  deliver  Israel  was  the  mission  of 
the  judge  ;  see  on  2^^  f^.  From  what  foes,  or  by  what  deeds,  he 
delivered  Israel,  is  not  narrated.  —  Tola  the  son  of  FuaJi]  both 
are  names  of  clans  of  Issachar  ;  see  above,  p.  270.  —  Son  of  Dodo'] 
the  name  Dodo  (var.,  Dodai)  occurs  twice  in  the  list  of  David's 
heroes,  2  S.  23^  i  Chr.  11^-  27^  and  2  S.  23^^  It  has  lately  been 
found  in  the  form  Dudu  on  the  Amarna  tablets.f  The  versions, 
with  the  exception  of  ^T,  take  the  word  as  appellative,  son  of  his 
(Abimelech's)  iincle  (father's  brother).  —  A  man  of  Issachar]  on 
the  text  see  note.  —  He  resided  at  Shamir  in  Mt.  Ephraim] 
there  was  also  a  Shamir  in  the  Highlands  of  Judah  (Jos.  15^^). 
The  Shamir  of  our  text,  the  seat  of  a  clan  of  Issachar,  probably 
lay  in  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim,  not  far 
from  the  plain  of  Jezreel.  See  on  5^^  (p.  151).  The  branches  of 
Issachar  which  established  themselves  south  of  that  valley,  had 
their  settlements  among  those  of  the  great  tribe  of  Joseph,  and, 
like  Benjamin  on  the  south,  seem  frequently  to  be  included  when 
it  is  spoken  of.  \  Shamir  has  not  been  identified.  Schwarz  sug- 
gested Sanur,  a  ruined  stronghold  on  a  detached  rocky  hill  about 
midway  between  Nabulus  and  Genin ;  §  but  this  seems  to  be  too 
far  south  and  west  for  a  settlement  of  Issachar,  and  there  is  no 
other  argument  for  the  identification  than  the  very  dubious  one  of 
similarity  of  sound.  —  2.    He  judged  Israel  twenty-thj-ee  years] 


*  See  above,  p.  235. 

t  In  the  inscription  of  Mesha  king  of  Moab  (1.  12),  r\1^'^  seems  to  be  the  name 
of  a  divinity.  The  Diidu  of  the  Amarna  letters  (Winckler,  Thontafelfund  von  El 
Amarna,  No.  38, 1.  i,  &c.)  is  apparently  a  Canaanite  official  at  the  Egyptian  court. 
See  also  Sayce,  Higher  Criticism,  p.  215. 

X  This  may  account,  on  the  other  hand,  for  the  fact  that  Issachar  is  not  named 
in  places  where  we  should  expect  it,  as  in  ch.  4  and  6-8. 

§  Das  heilige  Land,  1852,  p.  119.  On  Sanur  see  Rob.,  ^7i?2.  ji.p.  312  f. ;  Gu6rin, 
Samarie,  i.  p.  344-350 ;  5  WP.  Memoirs^  ii.  p.  157  f. ;  Bad^.,  p.  228.  Raumer,  Van 
de  Velde,  Gu6rin,  al.,  would  identify  Sanur  with  the  Bethulia  of  Judith ;  see  DB^. 
i.  p.  420  f. 


X.   1-4  273 

the  same  formula  is  used  of  each  of  the  Minor  Jutlges,  also  of 
Jephthah  (12^)  and  Samson  (15"'"),  but  not  of  any  of  the  other 

heroes  of  the  book.     On  the  chronology,  see  Introduction,  §  7. 

He  died  and  was  buried  in  Shamir]  from  this  notice,  which, 
mutatis  mutandis,  is  repeated  in  the  case  of  the  other  Minor 
Judges,  we  are  probably  to  infer  that  the  tomb  of  the  epony- 
mous ancestor  of  the  clan  was  in  later  times  shown  at  Shamir.* 
Cf.  2\ 

1.  nxiD  p  yVin]  the  latter  name  is  tvritten  in  the  same  way  i  Chr.  7I; 
in  Gen.  4613  Nu.  26^^,  hid.  See  Ochia  we-  Ochia,  No.  201,  and  Norzi  on  Gen.  I.e. 
As  appellative,  ^$'^^T^  is  the  'crimson  worm,  cochineal'  {Coccus  ilicis);  n.xir, 
a  plant  from  which  a  red  dye  was  obtained  {Rubia  tinctorum,  Linn.;  Low, 
Pflanzennatnen,  p.  251);  f  the  coincidence  is  noteworthy.  On  animal  names 
see  on  72^^  —  ^i^-,  pj  ^  yj^j  irarpad^Xcpov  airov  (iraTpbs  dSeX^oC  PVN  j  g)  . 
similarly  5>.  IL  patrui  Abinielech.  Ki.  notes  that  some  codd.  of  %  had 
nn  -13  («.  pr.  ;  so  Ra.);  others,  %-inN  nx  13,  i.e.  Abimelech's  uncle,  ©-"^i  has 
Kal  dv^aTr)<T€P  6  Qebs  (cf.  2i*5- 18)  ,  ,  ,  t6v  GwXo  vibv  ^ova  vibv  Kapie  [Kaprje] 
irarpad^\(pov  avTov,  Kal  avrbs  Kari^KCL  k.tJ.  Hollenberg  (ZA  TIV.  i.  p.  104  f.) 
infers  that  in  %  and  the  versions  a  name,  n^p  (2  K.  252=^  Jer.  40*^),  has  fallen 
out,  and  that  the  original  text  read :  *  Tola  the  son  of  Puah,  the  son  of  Kareah, 
his  (Abimelech'e)  uncle,  a  man  of  Issachar.'  The  conjecture  is  attractive,  but 
hardly  sound:  the  suff.  in  nn  naturally  refers  to  Puah,  not  to  Abimelech;  and 
to  explain  how  a  brother  of  the  Manassite  Jerubbaal  could  be  of  Issachar,  we 
should  have  to  travel  quite  outside  the  text.  |  The  recension  of  ©  which 
furnishes  this  name  omits  the  words,  a  man  of  Issachar,  which  the  scheme 
requires.  Perhaps  Kapte  is  only  a  corruption  and  displacement  of  Issachar.  § 
—  syff'if-'  a'ns]  the  definite,  the  man  of  Issachar,  is  out  of  place;  I  should 
emend,  -iDa^iy-'D  C'ns  (cf.  2L®<S) ;    cf.  i  S.  9I  and  see  note  on  71'*. 

3.  Jair.  — Jair  the  Gileadiie]  see  on  Havoth-jair,  v."*^.  —  He 
judged  Israel,  d^c]  see  on  v.l — 4.  He  had  thirty  sons]  cf. 
Ibzan's  thirty  sons  and  thirty  daughters  ( 1 2'')  ;  Abdon's  forty  sons 
and  thirty  grandsons  (12^^).  More  explicitly  than  in  the  latter 
cases,  Jair's  sons  are  connected  with  as  many  branches  or  settle- 
ments of  the  clan.  —  Riding  on  thirty  saddle  asses]  as  Abdon's 
descendants  rode  on  seventy  saddle  asses  (12'^) ;  cf.  also  5^".    The 


*  See  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  449  fif. 

t  'Epu0pa,  Ono?n.  vdticana,  OS^.  19993 ;  rubrum,  Jerome,  ib.  601. 
:J:  Cler.    Half-brother;  wife's  brother  ;  sister's  husband  (HollenK).     See  against 
Hollenberg,  Be''^.  ad  loc. 

§  This  explanation  is,  however,  by  no  means  free  from  difficulty. 

T 


274  JUDGES 

ass  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  riding  beast,  and  was  used  by  men 
and  women  of  rank  (Jud.  i"  i  S.  25-"  2  S.  17^  19-*'  Zech.  9^  &c.), 
as  it  has  ahvays  been  in  the  East.^  It  may  be  suspected  that  in 
the  verse  before  us  the  words  have  been  interpolated  from  12" 
(Abdon's  sons  and  grandsons) ;  the  conflation  being  facilitated,  if 
not  occasioned,  by  the  similarity  between  the  Hebrew  word  asses 
and  towns.  See  critical  note.  —  And  they  had  thirty  towns ;  these 
are  still  called  Havoth-jair,  and  are  in  the  land  of  Gilead~\ 
havvoth  may  have  originally  denoted,  like  the  Arabic  hiwa\  with 
which  it  is  commonly  connected,!  a  group  of  Bedawin  tents  ;  but 
with  the  transition  to  pastoral  life  it  would  naturally  be  appHed  to 
more  permanent  settlements.  In  the  O.T.  it  is  used  only  of  these 
Havoth-jair.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  name  Hivvite  is  of  the 
same  origin.  |  The  conflicting  statements  about  the  number  and 
situation  of  the  Havoth-jair  have  been  a  source  of  considerable 
perplexity  to  commentators;  see  a  full  discussion  of  the  diffi- 
culties in  Studer.  The  original  account  of  the  conquest  of  this 
district  is  in  Nu.  7^2^- '^^^■,  a  passage  which  belongs  to  the  oldest 
stratum  of  Hebrew  historiography  and  is  akin  to  Jud.  i.§  In 
connexion  with  the  conquest  of  Gilead  by  Machir,  Jair  took  the 
havvoth  of  the  Amorites  in  Gilead  (cf.  v.^^),  whence  they  are 
called  Havoth-jair ;  while  Nobah  took  Kenath  with  its  depend- 
encies and  gave  it  his  own  name,  Nobah.  ||  These  fragmentary 
old  notices  are  now  incorporated  in  the  younger  history  of  the 
Mosaic  conquest  of  the  lands  east  of  the  Jordan :  the  conquest 
of  this  region  by  Machir  (Manasseh),  however,  falls  apparently  in 
the  period  of  the  Judges,  i.e.  after  the  main  body  of  Israel  had 
estabhshed  themselves  west  of  the  Jordan.^  In  entire  accord 
with  Nu.  32'^^  is  Jud.  lo'',  according  to  which  the  Havoth-jair, 
thirty  in  number,  were  in  the  land  of  Gilead  (cf.  also  i  Chr.  2^-). 
Other  passages,  which  put  them  in  Bashan,  are  the  result  of  later 
misunderstanding;   so  Dt.  3"  cf.  v.*   (sixty  fortified  cities),  and 


*  See  Bochart,  Hierozoicon,  i.  p,  151  flF.,  ed.  Rosenm.  In  the  modern  East,  see 
DD^.  i.  p.  267  f.  t  It  is  not  a  Hebrew  word.  %  See  note  on  36,  p.  83  f. 

§  See  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  60,  87,  who  makes  these  verses  a  sequel  to 
Jos.  1714-18^  and  ascribes  them  to  J  in  the  original  context  of  Jud.  I. 

II  See  above  on  Sli. 

^\  Originally  only  Gad  and  Reuben  stopped  east  of  the  Jordan. 


^-  4-5  275 

Jos.  13-^,  both  of  which  belong  to  the  latest  redaction  of  the  his- 
tory.* In  I  K.  4'''  the  mention  of  the  Havoth-jair  is  interpolated 
from  Nu.  ^2^\^  The  account  in  i  Chr.  2-\  finally,  which  makes 
Jair,  who  had  twenty-three  cities  in  the  land  of  Gilead  which 
were  subsequently  lost  to  Geshur  and  Aram,  of  mixed  Judaean 
(Hezron)  and  Manassite  (Machir)  descent,  must  reflect  post- 
exilic  relations.  —  T/ie  land  of  Gikad']  see  on  11'.  —  5.  Jair  died, 
and  was  buried  at  Caman']  cf.  v.".  Camon  was  doubtless  east  of 
the  Jordan ;  |  not  improbably  Kamiin,  which  is  named  by  Poly- 
bius  in  connexion  with  Pella.  §  The  site  has  not  been  recovered. 
Eusebius  erroneously  identified  it  with  Kammona,  in  the  Great 
Plain  six  miles  northwest  of  Legio,  now  Tell  Qaimiin.  || 

4.  Qn>v^]  "»V  is  generally  a  riding  ass,  Gen.  49^1  Jud.  10*  12^*  Zech.  9''; 
a  beast  of  burden,  Is.  30*5-  24.  in  Arabic,  specifically  the  7vi/(/  ass;  sec 
Hommel,  Namen  der  Saugethiere,  p.  1 21-123.  —  3"'"^"'>^]  the  substitution  of 
this  form  for  the  regular  plur.  of  n-'y,  any,  is  generally  explained  as  an  inten- 
tional play  on  the  word,  to  connect  it  more  closely  with  an'^j?  'asses'  (Ki., 
Schm.,  Stud.,  al.  mu.).^  Perhaps  it  originated  in  an  accidental  repetition  of 
the  preceding.  —  mn]  (S^  iiravXeis.  The  word  is  connected  by  Abulw.  with 
Arab,  /layy,  'tents  of  a  clan,  clan,  kindred'  (see  above,  p.  83  f);  similarly 
Cler.  (on  Nu.  32*1),  comparing  Arab.  hi%ua\  'group  of  tents,  camp.'  This  is 
better  than  Ges.  {Thes.  p.  451),  direct  derivation  from  mn  =  T\''n,  'place  where 
men  live,  habitation,'  comparing  German  names  like  Aschersleben,  &c. 

X.  6-16.  The  moral  of  the  history  repeated  and  enforced. 
Preface  to  a  new  period  of  oppression.  —  The  religious  prag- 
matism of  the  history,  with  its  recurring  cycle  of  apostasy,  sub- 
jugation, and  deliverance,  is  set  forth  with  all  explicitness  in  the 
Introduction,  2 ^^-3^.  In  tihe  framework  of  the  book,  in  which  the 
stories  of  the  judges  are  set,  the  leading  motives  of  this  ouverture 
are  generally  repeated  in  a  sentence  or  two  of  set  phrases,  but  in 
one  or  two  cases  they  are  more  fully  developed  (3'"^^  6'"-'°),  while 
in  the  passage  before  us  they  are  expanded  to  almost  as  great 

*  Di.,  NDJ.  p.  201 ;  Kue.,  Th.  T.  xi.  p.  479  ff.        t  Klosterm.    It  is  lacking  in  ©. 

X  Fl.  Jos.  ^'i  Polyb.,  V.  70,  12  ;   Reland,  Palacstina,  p.  679. 

II  052.  2726,.  On  Tell  Qaimun  see  Rob.,  BR^.  iii.  p.  114  f.;  Gu^rin.  Samarie, 
ii.  p.  241  ff.;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  48,  69  f.  Eii  Smith  (1844)  and  Robinson  sug- 
gested that  Tell  Qaimun— Kammona— Kuamon  (Judith  7-'^)  is  the  Jokneam  of 
the  O.T.  (Jos.  i2'-22  &c.),  and  this  identification  is  in  all  probability  right. 

^  Cf.  ®   TTuiAous,  TToAeis, 


276  JUDGES 

length  as  in  2"^-.  We  have  learned  that  2"^-  is  not  entirely  the 
work  of  the  author  of  our  Book  of  Judges  (D),  but  contains  the 
substance  of  an  older  introduction,  conceived  in  a  similar  spirit, 
which  we  saw  reason  to  attribute  to  an  elohistic  source  (E).* 
The  same  phenomena  meet  us  again  in  lo*'"^^ :  with  the  charac- 
teristic phrases  of  D  is  intermingled  another  strain,  which  toward 
the  end  predominates ;  and  the  affinity  of  this  element  with  E  is 
here  even  more  evident  than  in  the  former  case.  Why  this  ex- 
tended introduction  should  stand  thus  in  the  middle  of  the  book 
is  not  apparent.  It  may  have  its  explanation  in  a  different  order 
of  the  pre-Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges.  Stade  surmises  that  in 
E  it  immediately  followed  the  story  of  Ehud  (3^^'^°),  and  that  its 
sequel  has  not  been  preserved.!  Budde  conjectures  that  it  was 
E's  introduction  to  the  account  of  the  Phihstine  oppression.  | 
As  it  does  not  appear  that  E  contained  a  story  of  Samson,  it  would 
then  be  supposed,  further,  that  in  its  original  connexion  it  was 
followed  by  the  history  of  the  Philistine  aggressions  in  the  time  of 
Samuel  and  Saul. 

On  io6-i«  see  Stade,  ZATW.  i.  p.  341-343,  GVI.  i.  p.  70;  Budde,  Richt. 
u.  Sam.,  p.  128  f.;  Kuenen,  HCCP'.  i.  p.  340  f.;  Kittel,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  8.  —  Stade 
urges  the  resemblance  of  the  non-Deuteronomic  elements  in  the  passage  to 
Jos.  24  (E2).  To  that  source  he  ascribes  v.^^-  ^  (except  the  Israelites  \^  and  the 
18  years)  10*.  ]3f.*i4f..  gyen  v.^f-  appears  to  have  an  elohistic  basis.  §  Budde's 
analysis  is  very  similar.  Kue.  and  Kitt.,  on  the  contrary,  discover  no  traces 
of  E.  The  former  ascribes  the  passage  as  a  whole  to  D :  the  latter  attributes 
v.6f.  8b.  loa  (?)  II  to  Ri.  (redactor  of  the  older  Book  of  Stories  of  the  Judges),  the 
rest  to  R^  (redactor  of  the  present  Book  of  Judges) ;  the  suggestions  of  E  in 
the  latter  are  due  to  a  peculiar  predilection  of  the  last  redactor  for  the  style 
of  E. 

6.  The  verse  begins  with  the  standing  formulas  of  D ;  cf.  2""^^ 
3"  &c.,  I  S.  7*  12^".  The  catalogue  of  foreign  religions,  which 
includes  those  of  all  the  neighbouring  nations  (cf.  2^^  Dt.  6"  13^'), 
Syria,  Phoenicia,  Moabites,  Ammonites,  Philistines,  is  not  improb- 

*  See  above,  p.  63  f.,  68  fT. 

t  y.A  TW.  i.  p.  342.  That  it  was  not  originally  the  introduction  to  the  story  of 
Jephthah,  he  infers  from  ii^,  and  from  the  fact  that  the  theological  pragmatism  of 
io«-"i  is  entirely  foreign  to  that  story. 

X  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  128.     Cf.  v.',  and  observe  Judah  and  Benjamin  in  v.9. 

}  Cf.  altogether  Jos.  24i»--'\  ||  V.»a  belongs  to  Ri.'s  source. 


X.  6-IO  277 

ably  a  secondary  amplification.  —  Forsook  Yahwch'\  v.'°- '''  2'-'^ 
Jos.  24=^"  (E).  — 7.  Cf.  2i^-«  f  4-  I  S.  i2\  — The  Philistines  and 
the  Ainmonites'\  the  author  of  these  words  intended  lo*'""  to  stand 
as  an  introduction  not  only  to  the  Ammonite  oppression  (io'"-i2'^), 
but  to  the  Philistine  supremacy.  Of  the  latter,  however,  there  is 
no  further  mention  in  the  following  context ;  it  is  the  Ammonites 
who,  after  crushing  Israel  east  of  the  Jordan,  invade  Judah,  Ben- 
jamin, and  Ephraim.  The  PhiHstine  domination  begins  with  13' 
(Samson),  and  continues  to  the  time  of  Samuel  (i  S.  7,  K).  In 
their  present  connexion,  the  words,  into  the  powe?-  of  the  Phitisti?ies, 
are  manifestly  out  of  place.  They  may  have  been  inserted  by  the 
latest  editor  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  scope  of  the  intro- 
duction to  include  ch.  13-16.  The  alternative  is  to  suppose,  with 
Budde,  that  in  E  10®"^^  originally  prefaced  the  account  of  the 
Philistine  oppression.*  This  is  perhaps  the  more  probable  hypo- 
thesis.—  On  the  Ammonites  cf.  3^^,  and  see  on  ii"*.  —  8.  And  they 
broke  a?id  crushed  the  Israelites  in  that  year  eighteen  years'\  from 
what  follows  the  subject  appears  to  be  the  Ammonites  only.  The 
impossible  collocation,  in  that  year  eighteen  years,  must  be  attrib- 
uted to  editorial  interpolation  or  composition.  The  eighteen  years 
probably  belong  to  D's  chronology  (cf.  6^  13^)  ;  in  that  year  is 
more  suitable  to  the  verbs  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse,  which 
suggest  a  signal  catastrophe  rather  than  long-continued  subjuga- 
tion and  oppression,  and  may,  as  Kittel  thinks,  be  from  the  source 
from  which  ch.  ii*^-  is  derived.f  D's  text  may  then  have  run: 
And  he  sold  them  into  the  power  of  the  Ammonites  eighteen  years. 
—  The  rest  of  the  verse,  with  v.^"  appears  to  be  an  expansion  of  the 
Israelites,  y.®*  ;  the  oppression  was  universal,  both  east  and  west 
of  the  Jordan.  —  The  land  of  the  Amorites,  which  is  in  Gilead'\ 
cf.  11^^^-;  the  relation  to  the  latter  passage  is  additional  evidence 
of  the  late  date  of  v.^^.  —  9.  The  Ammonites  even  crossed  the 
Jordan  and  invaded  Judah,  Benjamin,  and  Ephraim;  see  on  v.''^ 
Judah  is  mentioned  only  in  15^-"  iS^'.— Israel  loas  in  great  straits'] 
2'^  I  S.  30^  — 10.  Cf.  3^-^^  4^  6"'. —  We  have  sinned  against  thee] 
v}^  I  S.  12^"  7*^  Nu.  14^  21^  Dt.  i^^  The  formula  of  confession  is 
peculiarly  frequent  in  E  (Eg).  —  Forsaken  Wihzueh]  v.''  '•'  2^'^\ 


*  See  above,  p.  276.  f  Cf.  that  year,  with,  after  a  year  (o>d>d)  ii*. 


278  JUDGES 

8.  N^in  njao]  naturally,  the  year  in  which  Yahweh  gave  Israel  into  their 
power.  The  year  of  the  death  of  Jair  (Ra.,  Rjes.  i^)  is  far-fetched.  The 
difficulty  which  these  words  make  in  connexion  with  the  following  eighteen 
years  has  constrained  the  interpreters  to  various  ungrammatical  shifts.  JH 
endeavours  to  soften  the  collision  by  carrying  the  second  number  over  to  the 
next  half-verse;  cf.,  Schm.,  Ke.,  al.  (5^^  IL  omit  the  troublesome  words.*  — 
"ivSjj  n^'N]  the  Gileadite  Amorites.  In  the  writer's  view  the  Israelite  settle- 
ments east  of  the  Jordan  were  on  territory  conquered  from  the  Amorites,  not 
taken  from  Moab  and  Ammon.  The  same  theory  is  expounded  at  length  in 
1 1 15-27.  see  there.  Gilead  here,  as  often,  is  the  whole  region  of  Israelite 
occupation  east  of  the  Jordan.  — 10.  'J1  \v^rh\<  ij:jr;y]  read  irnSx  nini.  So 
7  codd.  (De  Rossi)  ^-^  ^  STIL'^ ;  t  sporadic  correction  attesting  the  sound 
feeling  that  the  name  is  indispensable. 

11-16.  Yahweh  reproaches  the  Israelites  with  their  apos- 
tasy.—  They  have  learned  neither  wisdom  nor  gratitude  by 
their  past  experience.  He  will  deliver  them  no  more  ;  they  may 
appeal  to  the  gods  they  have  chosen.  They  confess  their  sin  and 
put  away  the  foreign  gods.  Yahweh  cannot  bear  their  distress.  — 
Compare  2^^-''  (the  angel  at  Bochim),  6^-^*^  (prophet),  i  S.  7^^ 
lo^^-i^  12^^- Jos.  2/^^'-^.  Verses ^^-^^  have  the  distinctive  marks  of 
E's  style ;  in  the  preceding  verses  the  text  of  E  appears  to  have 
been  altered  and  expanded  by  R,  to  whom  the  catalogue  of 
oppressors,  in  its  present  form,  must  be  attributed.  — 11,  12.  The 
Hebrew  text  presents  an  anacoluthon  which  can  hardly  be  imitated 
in  English  :  Nonne  ab  ^gyptiis  et  ab  Amoritis  et  ab  Ammonitis 
et  a  Philistaeis  —  et  Sidonii  et  Amalec  et  Maon  oppresserunt  vos, 
et  clamastis  ad  me,  et  liberavi  vos  e  potestate  eorum  ?  The  con- 
struction is  changed  in  the  middle,  and  v."  thus  left  without  its 
predicate  (liberavi  vos).  %  Such  an  anacoluthon  is,  however,  awk- 
ward in  this  simple  sentence,  and  the  disorder  is  perhaps  due 
to  transcriptional  error.  The  versions  render :  §  Did  not  the 
Egyptians  and  the  Amorites  .  .  .  oppress  you,  and  you  cried 
unto  me,  and  I  delivered  you  from  their  power?  See  note.  The 
catalogue  of  the   seven   nations,   the  counterpart  of  the   seven 


*  It  is  perhaps  not  without  significance  that  in  ii26  (the  300  years)  these  18 
years  seem  not  to  be  reckoned. 

t  Dominum,  which  seems  to  have  no  Latin  attestation,  was  introduced  by  the 
Clementine  editors ;  see  Vercellone, 

X  See  De  Wctte,  Stud.  u.  Krit.  1831,  p.  305  ;  Stud. ;  Ges.25  ^  167,  2. 

^  Except  ©UN. 


X.   II-I2  2/9 

varieties  of  heathenism  in  v.*',*  corresponds  to  2'*'*  (he  sold  them 
into  the  power  of  their  enemies  on  all  sides),  as  v.^"^  to  2'^  The 
text  of  E,  as  is  frequently  the  case  with  such  hsts,  has  been  ampli- 
fied by  a  later  editor ;  originally  it  must  have  contained  the  names 
of  the  peoples  whose  oppressions  had  been  related  in  E's  Book 
of  Judges,  and  probably  in  the  order  of  his  narrative.  If  it  had 
been  preserved  intact,  it  would  have  given  us  a  valuable  criterion 
for  the  reconstruction  of  his  work.  The  editor,  on  the  contrary, 
has  accumulated  the  names  of  neighbouring  nations  without  any 
discoverable  principle  of  selection  or  order.  We  read  in  it  the 
names  of  some  which  nowhere  else  appear  as  oppressors,  while 
we  miss  others,  notably  Moab  and  Midian,  which  we  should  cer- 
tainly expect  to  find.  —  TJie  Amontcs'\  this  is  referred  by  the  com- 
mentators to  Sihon  king  of  Heshbon  (Nu.  21-^"')  ;t  but  how  the 
invasion  and  conquest  of  the  Amorites  by  Israel,  which  is  there 
narrated,  can  be  converted  into  an  oppression  of  Israel  by  the 
Amorites,  I  and  put  in  conjunction  with  the  tyranny  of  the 
Egyptians,  they  do  not  explain.  The  name  is  omitted  by  S.  — 
The  Ammonites^  the  only  Ammonite  oppression  recorded  in  the 
book  is  that  in  the  following  chapter,  from  which  they  were  deliv- 
ered by  Jephthah ;  we  should  not  expect  to  find  it  referred  to  in 
this  introduction  as  a  thing  of  the  past.  In  3^^  the  Ammonites 
are  named  as  allies  of  Moab  under  Eglon,  but  since  Moab  itself 
is  not  named  in  our  catalogue  the  supposition  that  the  writer  was 
here  thinking  of  Eglon's  time  is  excluded.  The  omission  of 
Moab  was  felt  by  the  versions  to  be  unaccountable,  and  the  name 
is  introduced  by  (@  after  the  Ammonites,  §  by  <S  instead  of  the 
Amorites.  —  The  Philistines\  in  immediate  connexion  with  the 
Ammonites,  as  in  v.^  The  period  of  Philistine  supremacy  began 
near  the  end  of  the  time  of  the  judges  (Samson),  and  lasted  till 
the  days  of  David.  The  commentators  are  compelled  to  refer  here 
to  Shamgar  (3'"^^);  see  there.  — 12.  The  Si  damans']  Phoenicians; 
see  on  3^  (p.  79,  81).  There  is  no  record  in  the  O.T.  of  an 
invasion  or  subjugation  of  Israel  by  the  Phoenicians.  ||  That  by 
Phoenicians  the  author  meant  the  northern  Canaanites  (Jabin, 
ch.  4),  or  that  the  Phoenicians  may  have  held  a  kind  of  hegemony 

*  Rashi.  t  So,  e.g.,  Be,  Ke,  t  No^^'  t'^c  verb.  \  Except  ©BN. 

|]  In  Am.  i'*  they  are  slave-dealers,  not  captors;  cf.  2  Mace.  8ii-3*. 


28o  JUDGES 

among  the  northern  Canaanites,  in  virtue  of  which  they  supported 
them  in  their  wars  with  Israel,*  are  hypotheses  which  admit  of  no 
refutation,  because  they  have  no  foundation.  More  probably  the 
introduction  of  the  Sidonians  here  is  due  to  the  mention  of  them 
in  v.*^'' ;  cf.  i  K.  1 1^.  —  Amalek']  the  Amalekites  are  named  in  3^^ 
as  allies  of  Eglon,  in  6^^-^  as  joining  Midian  in  its  annual  raids. t 
Others  refer  to  Ex.  17^^-.  —  Mao?i']  the  Maonites  first  appear  in 
Chronicles  as  enemies  of  Jehoshaphat  of  Judah  (2  Chr.  20^),  and 
of  Uzziah  (2  Chr.  26^);  they  are  mentioned  also  in  the  time  of 
Hezekiah  (i  Chr.  4'*^).  Their  seats  were  south  of  the  Dead  Sea; 
in  all  probability  the  name  is  preserved  in  Ma'an,  J  on  the  old 
caravan  road  from  Damascus  to  Arabia,  four  hours  east  of  Petra. 
The  occurrence  of  the  name  in  this  list  of  early  oppressors  of 
Israel  is  hard  to  explain.  Of  the  ancient  versions  2D  alone  agrees 
with  5^ ;  some  recensions  of  #  have  Midian ;  others,  with  3L, 
Canaan;  <S  has  Ammon  here.  That  Midian  should  be  omitted 
from  the  list  altogether  after  the  story  of  Gideon  (ch.  6-8)  is 
quite  as  strange  as  that  Maon  should  be  included,  and  very  many 
critics  adopt  the  emendation  suggested  by  (§,  Midian.%  The 
emendation  is  so  self-evident  that  it  is  suspicious.  It  is  possible, 
after  all,  that  the  editor,  who,  as  the  whole  catalogue  proves,  was 
little  concerned  about  historical  accuracy,  may  have  written  the 
name  of  an  Arab  people  of  his  own  times,  the  Minaeans.  ||  The 
omission  of  Midian  is  not  more  strange  than  that  of  Moab.  See 
note.  —  And  you  cried  unio  me,  and  I  delivered  you  from  their 
po7ver']  cf.  I  S.  12^"  and  the  places  cited  above  on  v.^".  — 13.  In 
spite  of  all  this  they  have  forgotten  him  (v.^*^  2^--^^)  and  served 
other  gods  (Dt.  f  ii^«  Jos.  24"  ^^  i  S.  ^^) .  — Therefore  I  will  not 
deliver  you  any  more']  cf.  2^\  — 14.  Let  them  cry  to  the  gods 
they  have  chosen ;  they  may  deliver  them  in  their  time  of  dis- 
tress; cf.  Jer.  2^  Dt.  322^^-  2  K.  3^^  —  15.   We  have  sinned]  see 

*  Be.,  referring  to  Jud.  i87-  28. 

t  The  mention  of  Amalek  in  both  places  appears  to  be  due  to  the  redaction. 

X  Lc  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Mosleitis,  p.  39,  508  f. ;  Burckhardt,  Syria, 
p.  436  f. ;  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  i.  p.  32  ff.—  In  i  K.  11I8  Then.,  Sta.,  al.  would 
read  Maon  for  Midian  ;  an  unnecessary  change,  see  above,  p.  179. 

^  So  Be.,  Doom. ;  cf.  Stud. 

II  See  Glaser,  Skizze  der  Gesch.  u.  Geogr.  Arabiem,  ii.  p.  450-452 ;  Sayce,  Higher 
Criticism,  p.  39-46. 


X.  I2-I8  28l 

on  v.^^     Verses  ^'^^^  seem  to   be   entirely  derived  from   E.  —  Do 
thou  unto  us  all  that  seems  good  to  thee ;  only  rescue  us  this  day\ 
punish  us  thyself  in  any  way  that  thou  seest  fit,  but  save  us  now 
from  our  enemies ;  cf.  2  S.  24^'* :  "  Let  me  fall  by  the  hand  of  Yah- 
weh,  for  his  compassion  is  great ;  but  by  the  hand  of  man  let  me 
not  fall  "  ;   2  Mace.  10'*.     With  the  phrase,  whatever  is  good  in  thy 
sight,  cf.  I  S.  3^^  2  S.  15-",  and  in  different  applications,  Jud.  iq'^^* 
I  S.  I ^^  11^'^  14^  2  S.  10^'.  — 16.    So  they  put  away  the  foreign  gods 
from  among  them']   Jos.   24^-'^   i   S.   f  Gen.   35-''  cf.   Dt.  31'". 
Foreign  gods  is   the   phrase  of  E,  for  which  the   Deuteronomic 
expression  is,  other  gods.  —  He  could  bear  the  misery  of  Israel  no 
lofiger']   his  pity  for  his  people  (Hos.  11**)  and   his  indignation 
against  their  enemies  overcome   him ;   he  can  no  longer  stand 
aloof  and  see  the  heathen  oppress  Israel.     On  the  Hebrew  phrase 
see  note.  — 17,  18.    In  the  original  connexion  of  E,  v}*^  must  have 
been  immediately  followed   by  the  raising  up   of  the  deliverer 
(cf.  11^^).     Verses ^'^-  are  an  editorial  introduction  to  the  story  of 
Jephthah,  the  material  of  which  is  all  drawn  from  ch.  11,  as  8*^-" 
is  derived  from  ch.  9.*  — 17.   The  Ammonites  gathered  for  war 
and  encamped  in  Gilead  ;  the  Israelites  were  assembled  at  Mizpah; 
cf.  7^  1  S.  4^  29^  &c.     The  two  armies  confronted  one  another,  but 
the  Israelites  had  no  leader.     This  representation  does  not  agree 
with  11-^  from  which  it  appears  that  Jephthah  had  to  raise  the 
clans  himself;    the  latter  verse  is,  however,  probably  from   the 
hand  of  an  editor;   cf.  also  ii^  — 18.    The  people,  the  chiefs  of 
Gilead]  the  words  are  explained  as  a  restrictive  apposition,!  but 
the  technical  name  does  not  render  the  expression  any  less  awk- 
ward.    Perhaps  the  original  text  has  been  glossed. —They  anx- 
iously inquire  where  they  shall  find  a  champion  and  leader.     The 
man  who  leads  them  to  victory  shall  be  made  chief  of  all  Gilead ; 
cf.  ii«-^-^K 

11.  -Ji  onxDD  nSh]  to  explain  the  anacoluthon  it  is  supposed  that  the 
author  began  intending  to  say,  qdhn  ^n>'a'in  .  .  .  Dnx::s  x^n  (Ges.-^  §  167,  2). 
But  neither  J7>tj'in  nor  "-^^-ir^,  '  deliver,  rescue  '  from  an  enemy  or  oppressor,  is  in 
Judges  construed  thus  with  p;  they  always  take  n>D  (>'>t:Mn  2'«- 1'^  6»  (hd":)  8-- 
10I2  ,36.    L,,^^  59  §34  9I7),     There  is  no  discernible  reason  why  the  author 


*  Mizpah  (v.!?)  is  derived  from  iiH  in  its  present  form ;  hence  loi"*"-  is  later  tluin 
the  great  interpolation,  iii-^-  t  lic\,  al. 


2J?2  JUDGES 

should  not  have  written,  'ji  DnxD  n>D  ddhn  \-i;'t:'in  nSh,  or  "Ti^jtrin  onifD  "t-d  nSh 
'Ji  T'Ci  DjnN,  IQ  with  its  supposed  anacoluthon  is  thus  suspicious  on  gram- 
matical grounds.  (gAPVLMO  g  ^  *  ^^^  make  the  nouns  in  v.^  as  v/ell  as  in  v.^^ 
subjects  of  the  vb.  nn'^,  and  the  text  should  probably  be  emended  accordingly.  — 
12.  Ii;::i]  MaSiafi  (gABLM  j^  Xamay  ^^0  ai.  g  s,  Canaan  %  (thinking  doubt- 
less of  4^  &c.).  ]';}j  is  a  not  impossible  corruption  of  p>'D  in  old  Hebr.  or 
transitional  alphabets.  — 14.  dd*?  ypiyv^  'hoh  ;?"«a'in  Jos.  lo^  2  S.  lo^  Jer.  ii^^ 
Ez.  34^2;  in  a  different  idiom,  Jud.  72,  see  note  there.  — 16.  v.:'£3j  nxpni]  lit. 
Ais  soul  xvas  shortened ;  his  patience  was  exhausted.  We  speak  of  a  short 
temper,  impatient  and  hasty.  In  Hebrew  the  phrase  is  used  for  complete 
discouragement,  when  endurance  itself  is  exhausted,  Ex.  6^  Nu.  21^  Job  21"*; 
but  also  of  a  man  who  is  tired  out  by  importunity,  Jud.  161'^.  The  application 
of  these  words  to  God  was  a  stumbling-block  to  some  of  the  Jewish  interpre- 
ters; but  cf.  Mi.  2^  Zech.  ii^.  —  Sd;?]  rare  in  old  prose.  Gen.  41^1  (E)  Nu.  23^1 
Dt.  26'. 

XI.  1-XII.  7.  — (Jephthah  delivers  Gilead  from  the  Ammon- 
ites.—  Jephthah  the  Gileadite  has  been  driven  from  his  home  to 
the  adjacent  Syrian  district  of  Tob,  where,  with  a  band  of  wild 
fellows,  he  leads  the  life  of  a  freebooter  (11^"^).  When  the  Am- 
monites make  war  on  Gilead,  the  elders  persuade  him  to  come 
and  take  command  against  the  enemy,  promising  to  make  him  the 
head  chief  of  all  Gilead.  He  returns  with  them,  and  is  made  chief 
by  the  people  (v.'^'^^).  He  sends  messengers  to  the  king  of 
Ammon,  contesting  his  claim  to  the  lands  between  the  Jabbok  and 
the  Arnon  :  Israel  conquered  this  territory  from  the  Amorites  and 
has  held  it  undisputed  for  three  hundred  years.  The  Ammonites 
refusing  to  recognize  Israel's  title,  hostilities  commence  (v.^---^). 
Jephthah  vows  that  if  Yahweh  gives  him  victory,  he  will  sacrifice 
the  first  who  comes  out  of  his  house  to  meet  him  on  his  return 
(v.'^).  He  subdues  the  Ammonites,  taking  from  them  twenty 
cities  (v.^^).  Returning  in  triumph  to  Mizpah,  his  only  daughter 
comes  out  to  meet  him,  heading  the  chorus  of  women.  The 
father's  heart  is  rent,  but  he  can  not  take  back  his  word  ;  after  a 
respite  of  two  months,  he  performs  his  vow.  The  fate  of  Jeph- 
thah's  daughter  is  commemorated  by  the  women  of  Israel  in  an 
annual  four  days'  festival  (v."^*"''") . 

The  Ephraimites  are  jealous  because  they  were  not  called  out 
for  the  war,  and  cross  the  Jordan  to  avenge  the  slight,  but  are 


*  ffilJN  V  agree  with  1^. 


XI.  i-XTI.  7  283 

beaten  by  Jephthah.  In  their  flight  many  are  cut  off  by  tlie 
Gileadites  at  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  being  betrayed  by  their 
pronunciation  (12^-^).  After  judging  Israel  for  six  years,  Jephthah 
dies  and  is  buried  in  Gilead  (v/) . 

The  long  diplomatic  communication,  defending  Israel's  title  to 
Gilead  (n^-'"^),  is  manifestly  foreign  to  the  original  story.*     The 
historical  argument  is  derived  chiefly,  and  in  part  verbally,  from 
Nu.  20,  21  (see  comm.  below)  ;  and,  though  purporting  to  be  an 
answer  to  the   claim  of  the  Ammonites    (v.^=^),  in  reality  deals 
exclusively  with  Israel's  relation  to  the  Moabites  (v.^^-  '').t     I'^en 
in  the  appeal  to  the  king  (v.-^),  the  name  of  Chemosh,  the  national 
god  of  Moab,  stands,  instead  of  Milcom,  the  god  of  Amnion ; 
and  the  conduct  of  the  present  king  is  contrasted  with  that  of 
Balak  king  of  Moab,  who  waged  no  war  with  Israel.     The  cities 
named  in  v.-«  are  well  known  Moabite  cities.  %     There  is  general 
agreement  among  critics  that   ii'-"^  is  a  late  interpolation,  the 
motive  of  which  is  to  establish  the  title  of  Israel  to  its  possessions 
between  the  Arnon  and  the  Jabbok.§     The  insertion  of  this  long 
speech  has  done  some  injury  to  the  margins  of  the  original  narra- 
tive.   Verses  ^-  ^^  are  violently  severed  from  v.'^  of  which  they  are 
the  original  sequel ;  v.^^^  seems  to  belong  after  v.«^ ;  vP  is  further  a 
very  awkward  redactional  doublet  to  v.'^^^  necessitated  by  the  intru- 
sion of  v.^2-^  before  v.^'^^     See  comm.  on  the  verses.    At  the  begin- 
ning of  ch.  II,  the  editor  seems  to  have  endeavoured  with  indiffer- 
ent success  to  make  out  something  more  definite  about  the  hero's 
origin,  taking  the  hint  from  v.^    Chapter  1 2^-«  is  regarded  by  Well- 
hausen  as  a  later  appendix  to  the  story.     The  difficulties  in  the 
connexion  of  these  verses  with  ch.  11  are,  however,  exaggerated  ; 
the  story  does  not  bear  the  marks  of  a  late  fabrication ;  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  sufficient  reason  why  it  may  not  be  from  the  same 
hand  with  ii4-"»>-«      See  more  fully  below,  and  cf.  on  8^"^. 

*See  Stud.;   Noldeke,  Untersuchungen,  p.  195  "•;  ^e.,  Comp.,  p.  228;   Bu.. 
Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  125  ;  al. 

t  Even  in  v.i5,  where  alone  they  are  named,  the  Ammonites  come  only  m  the 

secon^jilace.  ^^  treats  the  whole  kingdom  of  Sihon.  from  the  Jabbok  to  the  Arnon. 
as  having  been  originally  Moabite.  r.u^Ammon- 

^  The  occasion  of  the  interpolation  may  have  been  the  mtrus.on  of  the  Ammon 
ites  into  the  old  territory  of  Israel  at  the  beginning  of  the  6th  century,  cf.  jer.  49  • 


284  JUDGES 

Wellhausen  and  Stade  find  in  the  story  of  Jephthah  no  histori- 
cal elements  at  all.  Jephthah  himself  is  a  shadowy  figure,  whose 
origin  and  end  are  equally  obscure  ;  of  his  great  victory  over  the 
Ammonites,  we  are  told  nothing  definite.  The  whole  point  lies  in 
the  sacrifice  of  his  daughter,  which  serves  to  explain  the  Gileadite 
women's  festival.*  Stade  infers  from  ii^that  Jephthah  was  the 
hcros  eponymiis  of  a  despised  Gileadite  clan,  or  one  not  of  full 
blood.  Goldziher  treats  Jephthah  and  his  offering  as  mythicaLf 
The  objections  to  the  historical  character  of  the  hero  and  of  the 
main  features  of  the  story  do  not  seem  to  be  sufficiently  well 
founded.  That  the  circumstances  of  his  victories  over  the  Am- 
monites were  not  remembered,  or  are  not  more  fully  narrated 
here,  does  not  prove  that  nothing  of  the  sort  happened ;  the 
mythical  features  which  may  be  recognized  in  the  annual  cele- 
bration of  the  women  of  Gilead  may  have  attached  themselves 
to  an  historical  event  such  as  is  here  related.  % 

1-3.  Jephthah's  antecedents,  —  The  bastard  son  of  Gilead, 
he  is  driven  from  home  by  his  brothers,  and  with  a  band  of  free 
companions  lives  the  life  of  a  marauder  in  the  district  of  Tob. 
The  facts  in  this  introductioji  are  drawn  from  the  story,  which 
must  have  begun  by  telling  who  Jephthah  was,  and  probably  how 
he  came  to  be  in  Tob  (cf.  v.^).  The  genealogical  notise  which 
makes  him  a  son  of  Gilead  (v.^^)  is  clearly  not  original ;  with  it 
naturally  falls  the  story  of  his  expulsion  by  the  legitimate  sons  of 
Gilead  (v.-) .  From  v.^  we  should  rather  infer  that  he  had  been 
banished  by  the  authorities,  the  elders  of  Gilead.  A  not  unnatural 
misunderstanding  of  the  latter  verse  may  have  given  rise  to  v.^^-  ^.  § 

1.  Jephthah  the  Gileadite  was  a  great  warrior]  6^^  i  S.  9^  — 
He  was  the  son  of  a  harlot]  cf.  Abimelech,  8^^  9^^.  The  trait  may 
very  well  belong  to  the  original  story.  ||  The  following  words,  on 
the  contrary,  and  Gilead  begot  Jephthah,  appear  to  be  a  misinter- 
pretation of  the  patrial  adjective,  the  Gileadite,  in  the  sense  and 
form  of  the  later  genealogical  systems ;  Gilead  is  the  name  of  a 

*  We.,  Comp.,  p.  228  f. ;  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  68. 

t  Der  Mythos  bei  deji  Hcbrdern,  p.  113  ff.  =  Mythology  among  the  Hebrews,  1877, 
p.  0  ff.,  104.  +  Cf.  Kue.,  liu.,  Kitt.  ^S  Cf.  Bii..  p.  125  f. 

II  liu.,  I.e.  p.  125,  is  of  thp  opinion  that  this  also  is  secondary. 


XI.  1-3  .     285 

region  or  of  its  population  (5^"^),  not  of  a  man.  Having  made  this 
beginning,  the  editor  understands  Jephthah's  words  to  the  elders  of 
Gilead  in  v.^  You  have  hated  me  and  driven  me  out  of  my  father's 
house,  and  his  bretJireji  (clansmen)  v.",  literally,  and  combining  it 
with  v.^'^  (Jephthah  a  bastard),  interprets  the  whole  situation  in 
v.":  the  legitimate  sons  drove  out  their  illegitimate  half-brother.* 

—  2.  Besides  Jephthah,  Gilead  had  sons  by  his  lawful  wife.  When 
they  grew  up,  they  drove  Jephthah  away.  —  Thou  slialt  Jiavc  no 
inheritance  in  our  father' s  house,  for  thou  art  the  son  of  another 
woman'\  if  v.^*^-  -  were  an  integral  part  of  the  old  story,  and  therefore 
to  be  interpreted  historically,  we  might,  with  Stade,  regard  Jeph- 
thah as  the  name  of  a  Gileadite  clan  which  did  not  stand  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  others  of  its  kin.  But  as  the  name  nowhere 
occurs  in  this  character,!  and  nothing  in  the  subsequent  story 
suggests  anything  of  the  kind,  the  solution  adopted  above  seems 
preferable.  —  3.  Jephthah  fled  from  his  brethren']  cf.  v.^ ;  expelled 
from  his  father's  house.  —  The  district  of  Tob]  v:\  The  men  of 
Tob  appear  in  2  S.  lo"-^  among  the  Syrian  allies  of  the  Ammonites 
in  their  war  with  David,  in  immediate  connexion  with  Maachah  ; 
the  same  district  is  perhaps  meant  in  i  Mace.  5^"^  2  Mace.  12'". 
We  have  no  other  clue  to  the  situation  of  Tob ;  it  was  apparendy 
not  very  remote  from  Gilead,  probably  to  the  NE. —  There  col- 
lected to  Jephthah  worthless  fellows,  and  went  out  (on  forays)  7vith 
him]  lit.  wei'e  raked  together.  The  outlawed  man  naturally  took 
to  the  life  of  a  freebooter  on  the  outskirts  of  the  settled  land. 
So  David  did  when  compelled  to  flee  from  Saul  (i  S.  22^*"-  23^"^  25 
27'^-  &c.).  His  companions  were  of  the  same  class;  wild  and 
reckless  fellows,  9^     Such  a  life  was  not  esteemed  dishonourable.  \ 

1.  nrifj-']  probably  a  decurtate  theophoric  name;  cf.  ninns,  Sxnrc^  —  nrs 
njir]  16I  Jos.  2I  and  often,  cf.  ti'jS-'O  rw^  19I;  see  note  on  4^.  As  in  the  case 
of  Rahab,  early  Jewish  interpreters  try  to  soften  the  word;   see  below  on  v.^. 

—  i^ri]  the  Hiph.  is  common  in  P  and  Chr.,  also  Dt.  4^^  28^^  (Di.,  Gen.,  p.  106; 
Dr.,  Introd.,  p.  127;   Giesebrecht,  ZATVV.  i.  p.  235  f.);   older  writers  use 

*  So  substantially,  Bu. 

t  Cf.  Jos.  I5''3,  a  town  in  the  Lowlands  of  Judah;  Jiphtliah-cl  in  Zebulun, 
Jos.  igi-^. 

+  Cf.  of  the  Greeks,  Thuc,  i.  5;  Germans,  Caes.,  b.i:.  vi.  23,  Latrocinia  nullam 
habent  infamiani,  quae  extra  fines  cujusque  civitatis  fiunt.  The  sentiments  of  the 
Arabs  on  this  subject  are  well  known. 


286  JUDGES 

the  Kal  both  in  the  sense  *  beget '  and  *  bear.'  The  clause  attaches  very 
awkwardly  to  the  preceding:  ffir  makes  a  better  connexion,  ^  eyivprjaep  rep 
TaXaad  (^N),  or  Kal  ercKep  ry  T.  (APVLMO^ .  but  we  should  hardly  take  this 
for  the  original  reading  (Gies.).  —  '^njn  nS]  Nu.  i8'-^o  (a)  Jos.  19^  (lina) 
Nu.  32^^  C*^**)-  —  niHN  ntJ'N]  I  Chr,  2^^.  The  word  does  not  mean  peregrina 
(JHMich.,  cl.  Dt.  292'  Jer.  22"^^),  still  less,  of  another  tribe  (rabbinical  inter- 
pretation in  Ki.) ;  nor  does  it  necessarily  connote  inferiority.  —  3.  ^ra  vi^^] 
in  2  S.  lO^-s  the  versions  take  jvj  tr'vs  as  a  proper  name;  cf.  Klosterm.  (king 
of  Maachah).*  In  Jer.  Shebiith,  vi.  I,  fol.  36^  the  region  of  Tob  to  which  Jeph- 
thah  fled  is  said  to  have  been  NniDiD;  Neubauer  {Geog.  du  Talnnui,  p.  239) 
identifies  this  with  the  Hippos  of  Josephus  {yita^  65  §  349),  in  the  Decapolis.f 
S.  Merrill  adopts  this  combination;  but  it  rests,  so  far  as  the  Talmud  is 
concerned,  on  a  very  insecure  basis.     (See  also  Miihlau  in  Ri.  HWB.f  s.v.) 

4-11.  When  war  breaks  out  with  the  Ammonites,  the  sheikhs 
of  Gilead  go  after  Jephthah,  and  beg  him  to  take  command  in 
the  war.  He  expresses  his  surprise  that  in  their  straits  they  should 
seek  the  aid  of  the  man  whom  they  have  driven  into  exile.  They 
promise  that  he  shall  retain  his  power  and  be  head  of  all  the 
inhabitants  of  Gilead.  Upon  these  terms  he  returns  with  them 
and  is  proclaimed  commander  and  chief.  —  4.  This  verse  seems 
superfluous  beside  v.^%  and  is  omitted  by  some  Greek  manu- 
scripts ;  Studer  questions  its  genuineness.  Of  the  two,  however, 
it  is  perhaps  more  likely  that  v.^*  was  inserted  by  the  editor.  — 
After  a  iiine\  perhaps  we  should  interpret,  after  a  year;  cf.  that 
year,  lo^  They  overran  the  Israelites  unresisted  the  first  year, 
but  the  next  season,  when  they  again  invaded  the  country,  the 
elders  summoned  Jephthah.  —  The  Ammonites'^  a  people  closely 
akin  to  the  Moabites,  to  whom  they  seem  to  have  stood  in  a 
relation  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  Edom  to  Israel.  They  lay 
to  the  northeast  of  Moab,  and  east  of  the  Israelite  settlements, 
on  the  border  of  the  desert.  Their  principal  city  was  Rabbah  of 
the  Ammonites  ('Amman),  on  the  upper  Jabbok.  In  the  fertile 
region  adjacent  to  this  city  they  probably  early  settled  down  to 
agriculture,  but  the  great  body  of  the  tribe  seems  to  have  always 
remained  at  least  semi-nomadic.  That  they  periodically  harried 
their  Israelite  neighbours  and  lifted  their  cattle,  is  only  what  the 


*  In  the  parallel  i  Chr.  19I6  the  name  is  omitted. 

t  On  the  site  of   Hippos  sec  Schumacher,  ZDPV.  ix.  1886,  p.  324  f.  349  f . ; 
Clerrnont-Ganneau,  PEF.  Qu.  St..  1887,  ?•  36-38- 


XI.  4-9  287 

Bedawin  along  the  margin  of  the  Syrian  desert  have  always  done. 
Not  seldom  their  invasions  had  a  more  serious  character.  An 
Ammonite  attack  on  Jabesh-gilead  was  the  occasion  which  made 
Saul  king ( I  S.  1 1^"") ;  David  waged  an  embittered  war  against  them 
(2  S.  10-12).  —  5.  See  above  on  v.^ — The  ciders  of  Gi/ead'] 
^8.9.io.n  cf^  gic.  ^i^g  j^g^^g  Qf  ^j^g  families  and  clans;  with  a 
modern  word,  the  sheikhs.  Gilead  is  often  used  for  the  whole 
territory  occupied  by  Israel  east  of  the  Jordan,  as  Canaan  for 
their  possessions  on  the  west  of  the  river.  This  territory,  whose 
natural  boundaries  are  the  Yarmuk  on  the  north  and  Wady  Mogib 
(Arnon)  on  the  south,  is  divided  by  the  Zerqa  (Jabbok)  into 
two  parts,  the  northern  of  which  is  now  called  Gebel  'Aglun,  the 
southern,  the  Belqa.  It  is  the  latter  which  is  the  scene  of  our 
story.*  —  6.  Come  with  us  and  be  oitr  co7nmander\  an  extraor- 
dinary authority,  a  kind  of  dictatorship,  is  meant ;  see  note.  — 
7.  Jephthah  expresses  his  surprise  that,  after  the  way  they  had 
treated  him,  they  should  come  to  him  for  help  in  their  straits.  — 
Are  not  you  the  men  that  hated  me,  and  expelled  me  from  my 
father's  house .?]  not  only  from  the  house,  but  from  the  family ; 
making  him  a  tribeless  man,  without  rights  or  protection.  In 
such  a  state  of  society,  expulsion  from  the  clan  is  far  more  than 
banishment ;  it  makes  a  man  an  outcast  and  an  outlaw.  The 
justice  or  injustice  of  his  banishment  is  not  mooted  ;  t  they  have, 
in  any  case,  no  reason  to  expect  help  from  him.  —  8.  The?efore 
we  have  now  returned  to  thee']  the  particle  refers,  not  to  the  last 
words  of  Jephthah  (because  we  are  in  straits),  but  to  his  first 
question :  Because  we  did  banish  thee,  we  have  now  sought  thee 
out  to  bring  thee  back.  —  So  go  with  us  and  fight  7vith  the 
Ammonites,  and  thou  shall  be  our  chief,  even  of  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  Gilead]  10^^.  Such  a  sentence  may  also  be  conceived 
as  conditional :  If  thou  wilt  go  .  .  .  thou  shalt  be,  cvic. ;  but  it  is  a 
mistake  to  regard  this  as  a  form  of  the  Hebrew  conditional  sen- 
tence.—  9.  He  repeats  their  proposition,  that  there  may  be  no 
misunderstanding. — If  you  take  me  back  to  fight  with  the  Ammon- 

*On  Gilead,  see  Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  347-372;  Tristram,  Land  of  Israel, 
ch.  22,  23;  Merrill,  East  of  the  Jordan,  1881;  Condcr,  Heth  and  Moab,  1883; 
SEP.  Memoirs,  i.  1889;  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geogr.,  p.  517-590;  DH^^.  s.v. 

t  Cler. 


288  JUDGES 

ites,  and  Yahweh  gives  tliem  ovei'  before  me,  I  shall  be  your  chiefs 
it  is  unnecessary  to  give  the  words  an  interrogatory  inflection.  — 

10.  Yahweh  shall  be  a  witness  between  us'\  shall  hear  and  take 
note  of  the  words  which  have  passed  between  us;  cf.  Gen.  31*^, 
Yahweh  shall  keep  watch  between  us,  when  we  are  out  of  each 
other's  sight.  —  That  we  will  do  just  as  thou  sayest']  lit.  if  we  do 
not  do ;    the   usual  form  of  affirmative  oath  or  asseveration.  — 

11.  Jephthah  goes  with  them,  and  the  people  acclaim  him  chief 
and  dictator ;  cf.  9^.  So  Saul  is  acclaimed  king  by  all  the  people 
at  Gilgal  (i  S.  n^^);  Rehoboam  goes  to  Shechem  to  be  made 
king  by  all  Israel  (i  K.  12^)  ;  Jeroboam  is  made  king  there  by 
the  northern  tribes  (i  K.  12-'");  cf.  also  i  K.  i^*^-  (Adonijah), 
^  33fiF.  (Solomon).  It  has  been  generally  inferred  from  v."^,  in  con- 
nexion with  10^^,  that  Jephthah  was  acclaimed  at  Mizpah.  This  is 
in  itself  highly  probable ;  the  Gileadites  would  naturally  assemble 
for  the  purpose  at  their  principal  holy-place   (cf.   9*^  i   S.    11^^ 

1  K.  i^-^  12^  &c.).  But  10^''  is  part  of  the  editor's  introduction, 
and  11"''  is  misplaced ;  it  originally  stood  in  close  connexion  with 
v.^*^-,  from  which  it  has  been  separated  by  the  interpolation  of  v.^^-^, 
and  closer  examination  shows  that  its  proper  place  is  after  v.^^, 
not  before  v.^" ;  see  below.  — Jephthah  uttered  all  his  words  before 
Yahweh  at  Mizpah']  at  the  holy  place,  before  the  stele,  altar,  or 
idol,  in  which  the  deity  was  beheved  to  dwell,  or  which  symbolized 
his  presence;  cf.  i  S.  i^  ((g)  ^'-^^  f  lo^^^-'^  ii^^  15^3  2  S.  5=^  21^  6'" 

2  K.  19".  In  the  present  context  the  words  can  only  mean,  he 
repeated  before  Yahweh  what  he  had  said  to  the  elders  of  Gilead 
when  they  came  to  soHcit  his  aid  (v.^).*  The  only  object  in  such 
a  repetition  would  be  to  bind  them  by  a  religious  sanction  to  keep 
their  promise ;  but  in  that  case  he  must  have  made  them  solemnly 
repeat  their  pledge  (v.^-^°),  his  words  would  not  hold  them;  and, 
furthermore,  the  promise  of  the  elders  had  already  been  fulfilled 
by  the  people  (v."'') .  On  the  other  hand,  the  statement  is  perti- 
nent, if  indeed  it  is  not  indispensable,  in  the  account  of  Jeph- 
thah's  vow,  v.=*^*"-  cf.  v.-^-^';  see  further  on  v.^^ — Mizpah  is  not 
Mizpah  in  Benjamin  (Jos.  iS^^  Jud.  20  21    i   S.   7  lo^^  Neh.  3' 

*  Stud.    It  is  hardly  permissible  to  stretch  the  words  to  cover  all  that  had  passed 
between  him  and  the  elders  (Ra.). 


XI. 


289 


&c.),*  but  Mizpah  in  (lilcad  (v.'*  cf.  v.'-"-'  Hos.  5').  The  site  has 
not  been  recovered ;  in  our  story  we  might  think  of  (lebel  Osha'; 
an  hour  north  of  es-Salt,  from  whose  summit  the  view  takes  in  a 
large  part  of  Palestine.! 

4.  The  verse  is  lacking  in  ©'*^^ :  it  is  found  in  all  other  recensions  of  © 
and  in  all  the  other  versions.  J  The  omission  may  he  due  to  honnL-otelcuton; 
or,  less  likely,  to  the  same  feeling  of  the  redundancy  of  the  verse  which  has 
led  Jerome  to  condense  in  translation.  —  did'»d]  after  a  time  ;  14**  15I  Jos.  23^ 
DUi  D^DiD,  after  a  long  time;  or,  after  a  year;  see  l>elow  v.'*''.  —  On  the 
Ammonites  see  wStade,  GVI.  i.  p.  120;  Ri.  IIIVB.,  DB^.,  s.v.  —  5.  lyVj  ^jpr] 
cf.  Nu.  22*  (Midian)  22^  (Moah)  i  S.  4^  (Israel)  &c.     Elders  of  a  city,  Jud.  S^o 

1  S.  11^;  cf.  i^iyn  ijpr  freq.  in  Dt.  —  6.  psp]  v.^;  synonym  of  tt\s-i  Mi.  3^-3; 
joined  with  n^b*  and  Sc'd  Prov.  6'^;  commander  of  troops  Jos.  lo^^;  dictator 
Is.  3^'';  cf.  also  Is.  i^"^  22*  Da.  ii^^.  —  8.  ]p^'\  there  is  no  occasion  for  depart- 
ing from  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  particle.  In  Jer.  5''^,  sometimes  adduced 
for  the  sense  *  nevertheless,  notwithstanding,'  the  St.  Petersburg  codex  reads 
|DN;  the  other  exx.  cited  in  Noldius  do  not  support  the  meaning  alleged. — 
noSni]  perf.  in  an  urgent  entreaty;  Dr^.  §  119  5;  followed  by  two  other 
consec.  perff.  —  9.  The  protasis  with  a  ptcp.,  9^^  cf.  6^^*^  and  note  there; 
Friedrich,  Conditionalsdtze,  p.  16.  The  apodosis  begins,  not  with  j.-^ji  (Dr^. 
§  137  a)  :  'if  you  are  going  to  bring  me  back  .  .  .  Yahweh  will  deliver  them 
up,'  but  with  n^nx  ojn,  — 11.  Mizpah.  From  Jos.  1326,  npscn  pci  Ramath- 
mizpeh,  it  is  frequently  inferred  that  Mizpah  of  Gilead  is  the  same  with 
Ramoth-gilead  (i  K.  41^),  which  was  the  seat  of  an  ancient  sanctuary  (Jos.  20^ 
Dt.  4'^^),  and  a  strong  place  of  great  importance  in  the  Syrian  wars  (i  K.  22^*^- 

2  K.  828  9iff-).  According  to  Euseb.  {OS'^.  28791),  Ramoth  was  a  village  15  m. 
W.  of  Philadelphia  ('Amman),  perhaps  the  modern  es-Salt.  But  Ramah  and 
Mizpah  (Mizpeh)  are  both  common  names,  and  the  Ramoth  of  the  Kings 
must  have  been  much  further  north.  §  The  form  nDXc[n]  Jos.  ii**  13"^'',  cstr. 
Jud.  ii29bis  I  s.  223.  What  may  be  the  reason  of  this  variation  in  pronuncia- 
tion is  not  clear.     The  fem.  cstr.  does  not  occur,  but  we  have  the  locative 

12-28.  The  title  of  Israel  in  Gilead. —Jephthah  demands 
the  reason  of  the  Ammonite  invasion ;  the  king  replies  that  he 
makes  war  to  recover  the  territory  between  the  Jabbok  and  the 
Arnon,  which  Israel,  when  it  came  up  from  Egypt,  took  from 
Ammon,  and  concludes  with  a  demand  for  its  surrender  (v.^**^). 

*  Roland.     Grove,  al.,  transport  the  Mizpah  of  Jud.  20,  21  to  Gilead ;  see  there. 
t  See  Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  353  f. ;   Bad3.,  p.  180.  X  GLa»-  omit  v.-^a. 

^  We  should  naturally  look  for   the    Mizpah   of  Gen.  si^'J  on  the  Aramaean 
frontier,  in  northern  Gilead. 
U 


290  JUDGES 

Jephthah  denies  the  claim  of  the  Ammonites  to  this  region  :  Israel 
took  no  land  from  Moab  or  Ammon ;  on  the  contrary,  it  scrupu- 
lously respected  the  rights  of  Edom  and  Moab ;  when  denied  a 
passage  through  those  countries,  it  made  a  long  circuit  to  the 
east,  avoiding  them  altogether,  and  never  crossed  the  Arnon,  the 
border  of  Moab  (v.""^^).  But  when  Sihon,  the  Amorite  king  of 
Heshbon,  refused  them  transit,  they  invaded  and  conquered  his 
kingdom,  which  extended  from  the  Jabbok  to  the  Arnon,  and 
from  the  eastern  desert  to  the  Jordan.  What  Chemosh  has  given 
to  his  people  they  possess  by  right ;  Israel  has  the  same  title  to 
the  lands  which  Yahweh  has  given  them  by  conquest  (v.^^^^^). 
The  claim  now  set  up  is  a  new  one  :  Balak,  who  was  king  of 
Moab  when  Israel  occupied  this  region,  did  not  assert  his  title 
to  it  by  going  to  war  with  them ;  for  three  hundred  years  Israel 
has  dwelt  unmolested  in  Heshbon  and  the  other  cities  which 
Ammon  now  claims.  The  wrong  is  wholly  on  the  side  of  the 
invader.  Yahweh  shall  decide  between  them  (v.^^'^^).  The 
representations  of  Jephthah's  ambassadors  are  unheeded,  the 
spirit  of  Yahweh  (battle  fury)  comes  upon  him,  and  he  passes 
over  to  fight  with  the  Ammonites  (v.^) .  —  On  the  interpolation, 
see  above,  p.  283. 

12.  Jephthah  demands  of  the  king  what  right  the  Ammonites 
have  to  invade  the  territory  of  Israel.  —  What  have  I  to  do  with 
thee']  2  K.  3^^  &c. ;  what  is  there  between  us  to  justify  this  war  ? 
The  question  is  asked  only  to  give  occasion  to  the  following  histor- 
ical disquisition.  /  is  really  Israel,  as  in  yF,  not  Jephthah.  — 
13.  The  king  answers  that  Israel  had  taken  possession  of  lands 
belonging  to  Ammon.  —  From  the  Arnon  to  the  Jabbok,  and  to 
the  Joi'dan]  the  territory  in  dispute  was  bounded  by  the  Arnon 
on  the  south  and  the  Jabbok  on  the  north,  and  extended  westward 
to  the  Jordan.  The  eastern  Hmit  was  the  Syrian  desert  (v.^^). 
The  Arnon,  now  Wady  Mogib,  flows  from  the  east  into  the  Dead 
Sea,  about  midway  between  its  northern  and  southern  ends.  The 
valley  of  the  Mogib  is  a  deep  ravine  with  precipitous  walls.*  — 
The  Jabbok,  now  Nahr  ez-Zerqa  (Blue  River),  is   the  principal 

*  See  Rurckhardt,  Syria,  p.  372-375 ;  Seetzen,  Reisen,  ii,  p.  347;  Tristram,  La}id 
0/  Moab,  p.  140-143. 


XI.   12-17  291 

eastern  affluent  of  the  Jordan,  into  which  it  falls  about  two-fifths 
of  the  way  from  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  It  also  flows 
through  a  deep  ravine,  which  divides  the  high  lands  into  two 
regions  of  very  different  character,  the  Belqa  and  Gcbel  'Aglun. 
The  sources  of  the  stream  are  near  'Amman  (Rabbah  of  the  Am- 
monites) ,  whence  it  flows,  first  in  an  easterly,  then  in  a  north- 
westerly course,  then  almost  due  west  till  it  emerges  from  the 
mountains.  —  So  now  restore  them  peaceably']  the  plural  pronoun 
(fem.)  must  be  understood  of  the  cities  in  this  region ;  cf.  v.*".* 
— 14,  15.  Jephthah's  answer  is  a  general  denial :  Israel  did  not 
take  territory  from  either  Moab  or  Ammon  ;  cf  Dt.  2^-  '^.  Thus 
far,  the  controversy  has  been  with  Ammon  only ;  now  Moab  is 
introduced  by  the  side  of  Ammon ;  what  follows  4ias  reference 
exckisively  to  Israel's  relations  to  Moab,  and  the  argument  has  no 
bearing  at  all  on  the  point  which  is  supposed  to  be  in  dispute  ; 
see  above,  p.  283.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  cities  north  of  the 
Arnon  were  Moabite,  as  we  know  both  from  the  Moabite  inscrip- 
tion of  King  Mesha  and  from  the  prophets  (Is.  15  16  Jer.  48 
&c.).t  The  only  Ammonite  city  named  in  the  O.T.  is  Rabbah 
(Philadelphia,  'Amman).  The  Ammonites  profited  by  the  disas- 
ters of  Israel,  and  occupied  a  considerable  part  of  the  old  territory 
of  Gad  (Jer.  49^  Ez.  25^^  ;  cf.  i  Mace.  5^^). —  16.  Israel  went  in 
the  desei't  as  far  as  the  Red  Sea,  and  came  to  Kadesh']  the  first 
words  are  generally  thought  to  refer  to  the  crossing  of  the  Red 
Sea  (Ex.  13^^  14),  but  apart  from  the  strangeness  both  of  the 
expression  itself  and  of  the  juxtaposition  with  the  following,  the 
mention  of  the  fact  has  no  relevancy  in  this  connexion.  It  is 
rather,  perhaps,  a  not  altogether  distinct  reminiscence  of  Nu. 
14^^  (E),  connected  with  20^^^-  (E). — Kadesh']  now  generally 
identified  with  'Ain  Qudeis.  |  — 17.  Israel  sent  ?nessengers  to  the 
king  of  Edoni\  from  Kadesh.  The  verse  is  plainly  dependent, 
even  in  expression,  upon  Nu.  20^'*--^  (E).  In  Dt.  i  2*"-  no  mention 
is  made  of  these  negotiations  with  Edom.  —  He  (Israel)  sent  to 
the  king  of  Moab  also,  but  he  would  not  cojisent]  no  account  of 

*  Be.  (cf.  Nu.  2i25)  ;  not,  the  lands  of  Moab  and  Ammon  (Stud.), 
t  Cf.  also  Jud.  3i2ff- ;  above,  p.  90  f. 

X  Rowlands,  in  Williams,  Holy  City'^  i.  p.  467  f. ;    Trumbull    Kadesh  liamea, 
p.  237  ff. 


2Q2  JUDGES 

this  embassy  is  now  found  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  as  there  is  no 
apparent  reason  why  an  editor  should  have  omitted  it,  if  it  existed 
in  his  sources,  it  may  fairly  be  doubted  whether  the  author  of  our 
passage  had  any  authority  for  the  statement.  He  might  naturally 
reason  that,  if  Israel  proposed  to  pass  around  the  southern  end  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  the  consent  of  Moab  was  as  necessary  as  that  of 
Edom.— ^^  Israel  remained  at  KadesJi]  Nu.  20^  Dt.  i^^— 18.  The 
Israelites  made  a  long  circuit  around  Edom  and  Moab,  going 
south  along  the  western  frontier  of  Edom  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf 
of  'Aqabah  (Red  Sea),  and  then  through  the  desert  to  the  east  of 
Edom  and  Moab  (Nu.  20"  21*) ;  *  cf.  the  somewhat  different  repre- 
sentation in  Dt.  2.  —  They  came  up  on  the  east  of  the  land  of  Moab, 
and  encainped  beyo7id  the  Arnon\  Nu.  "^  i"-  ^^.  —  They  did  not  enter 
the  territory  of  Moab ;  for  the  Anion  is  the  boundary  of  Moab'] 
Nu.  21^^  22^*^.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  author 
means  the  eastern  boundary ;  t  he  may  have  represented  the 
Israelites  as  keeping  beyond  the  limit  of  settlement  on  the  east  of 
Moab  till  they  crossed  the  wadies  which  ran  into  the  Arnon  from 
the  east,  and  then  turning  westward  along  the  northern  side  of  the 
Arnon;  this  is  apparently  the  representation  of  Nu.  21^^. 

12.  iSi  iV  na]  cf.  further  2  S.  1610  1923  Jos.  222*  2  K.  9I8  &c.  The  idiom 
occurs  not  only  in  Hellenistic  Greek,  but  in  the  classics  j  see  Valckenaer  on 
Hdt.,  V.  33,  Eurip.,  Hippol.  224,  cited  by  Stud.;  Ges.  Thes,.,  p.  769.  So  also 
in  Syr.  and  Arab,  (concomitant  object;  Caspari,  §  402).  — 13.  |nnN]  not  the 
lands {pxi-s^^oS..  v.i^)  which  belonged  jointly  to  Moab  and  Ammon  (Stud.), but 
the  cities.  |  (gVMO  "^  ^am.  — 16.  N2ii  .  .  .  i'?"'i  .  .  .  DniS;;3]  '^>>  apodosis  to  the 
temporal  protasis  (Dr^.  §  127  /3) ;  not  to  be  included  in  the  protasis  (Kitt.),  mak- 
ing the  apodosis  begin  with  rb^^\  —  ^xo  □••  n;;]  possibly  the  words  have  been 
misplaced.  In  v.i^  (ijiDa  iSii)  they  would  be  much  more  pertinent.  —  nSi 
h^n]  19IO;  synon.  of  ^Dtt'  nS  v.%  cf.  Is.  i^^  Dn;?Dt:>i  i3Nn  dn.  The  verb  is  found 
almost  exclusively  with  the  negation  (the  exceptions  are  Is.  /.<:.,  and  Job  39^ 
in  a  rhetorical  question  equivalent  to  negation);  'refuse  assent  or  consent; 
decline,  refuse.'  The  meanings  *be  desirous,  be  willing'  frequently  attributed 
to  the  verb  are  fictitious.  — 18.    B'Dtt'  m?DD]  20*^  Dt.  4^'  Is.  4125  &c.  (prevail- 

*  The  description  of  the  route  in  Nu.  21  is  made  up  of  heterogeneous  elements. 

t  In  which  case  the  name  Arnon  must  be  applied  (as  it  very  well  may  have 
been)  to  the  long  southeastern  branch  of  the  Mogib,  the  Seil  es-Sa'Ideh,  the  head 
of  which  is  near  Katraneh  on  the  Hagg  road.     See  DB'^.  i.  p.  247  n. 

X  Stud,  gathers  from  the  word  that  the  king  of  the  Ammonites  had  accused 
Israel  of  occupying  territory  which  belonged  to  Moab,  as  well  as  that  of  Ammon. 


XI.    17-22  293 

ing  in  later  books);  rcii'n  nita  Nu.  21I1  Jos.  i^''  13''  2  K.  lo"'-^  &c.  TIil' 
omission  of  the  article  is  probably  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  phrase  is  a 
unit  in  sense,  like  sunrise,  sunset,  &c.,  and  construed  like  words  designating 
direction  (tii3i',  &c.),  which  do  not  admit  the  article.  The  next  step  is  to  drop 
the  genitive,  Am.  2>^'^  &c.  —  pj-\N  "i^y^]  Nu.  2ii3  "123:?:,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Arnon;  that  is,  from  Moab.  Not  south  of  the  Arnon  (Di.  on  Nu.  I.e.),  or  east 
of  its  upper  course,  but  Jiorth  of  it,  having  crossed  its  head  wadies  in  the 
desert,  east  of  the  Moabite  settlements,  Nu.  I.e.;   cf.  Dt.  2^*. 

19.  Israel  asks  of  Sihon  permission  to  cross  his  country,  through 
which  they  must  needs  pass  to  reach  the  Jordan  and  invade 
Canaan.  —  King  of  the  Aniorites\  of  the  new  Amorite  kingdom 
which  had  been  estabUshed  north  of  the  Arnon,  in  lands  wrested 
from  Moab  (Nu.  21^""^).* — Heshbon\  one  of  the  chief  cities  of 
Moab  (Is.  15*  Jer.  48^  &c.) ;  for  a  time  in  the  possession  of  Israel 
(cf.  v.'*^).  Its  ruins,  which  still  bear  the  old  name,  Hesban,  lie 
about  sixteen  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Jordan.!  —  Let  me 
pass  tJu'ougJi  thy  country']  Nu.  21--  Dt.  2^. —  To  my  place]  cf  Nu. 
lo^-*.  —  20.  But  Sihon  refused  Israel  passage  through  his  territory] 
so  the  text  is  to  be  emended  on  the  authority  of  ©'^ "'  ;  %]  has, 
Sihon  did  not  trust  Israel  to  pass,  but  the  use  and  construction  of 
the  verb  trust  are  anomalous ;  see  note.  —  Sihon  collected  all  his 
forces  and  encamped  at  Jahaz]  Nu.  21-'^  Dt.  2^-.  Jahaz  is  a 
Moabite  city,  named  in  conjunction  with  Heshbon  and  Elealeh.  \ 
It  was  shown  in  Eusebius'  time  between  Medeba  and  Debus.  §  — 
21.  Vahweh  gave  the  Amorites  into  the  power  of  the  Israelites, 
who  conquered  them  and  occupied  all  their  territory;  Nu.  21^* 
Dt.  2^-^\  —  22.  The  boundaries  of  this  territory  more  exactly 
defined;  it  was  precisely  the  district  now  claimed  by  Ammon 
(v.^^)  ;  cf  Nu.  2i-'*-2^  Dt.  2^^\  In  both  the  latter  passages  it  is 
carefully  explained  that  Israel  took  no  territory  from   the   Am- 


*  Whether  this  representation  is  historical  or  not,  is  a  question  into  which  we 
need  not  enter  here;  see  E.  Meyer,  ZATW.  i.  p.  128  ff . ;  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  117  f.; 
on  the  other  side,  Di.,  NDJ.  p.  133 ;  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  i.  p.  207  flF. 

t  On  Heshbon  see  Reland,  Palaestina,  p.  719  f. ;  Le  Strange,  p.  456 ;  Burckhardt, 
SyHa,  365;  Tristram,  Latid  of  Israel^,  p.  528  f.;  SEP.  Memoirs,  i.  p.  104  flF.;  DirK 
i.  p.  1348.  X  See  Mesha's  inscription,  1.  19,  Is.  is"*  Jer.  4821-  34. 

§  052.  26494.  Atj^oOs  is  probably  Dibon.  Reland  {Palaestina,  p.  825)  conj. 
•E<r/3ovs  {OS'^.  25327),  Heshbon,  which  appears  intrinsically  more  probable.  Tlie 
scene  of  the  battle  seems  to  have  been  not  far  from  Heshbon.  Jahaz  has  not  b-m 
identified ;  for  a  long  list  of  guesses,  see  DB^.  s.v. 


294  JUDGES 

monites,  and  in  both  the  Jabbok  is  the  boundary  between  their 
conquests  and  the  possessions  of  Ammon.  This  seems  to  mean 
that  the  upper  course  of  the  Jabbok,  whose  general  direction  is 
north,*  formed  the  eastern  frontier  of  the  Israehte  territory  in  this 
quarter,  along  which  they  bordered  on  Ammon.  In  Jud.  ii^^-^^, 
however,  the  Jabbok  is  clearly  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
region  in  dispute,  which  extends  eastward  to  the  desert  (v.-^), 
leaving  no  place  at  all  for  Ammon. 

23,  24.  The  divine  right  of  conquest.  —  So  now,  Vahwe/i,  the 
god  of  Israel,  dispossessed  the  Amorites  before  his  people  Israel,  and 
wilt  thou  possess  the??i]  their  {sc.  the  Amorites')  territory.  Question 
of  indignant  surprise  ;  cf.  on  v.*.  —  24.  Shouldst  thou  not  possess 
the  territory  of  those  whom  Chemosh  thy  god  dispossesses, ■\  and  we 
possess  the  territory  of  all  whom  Yahweh  our  god  dispossesses .?] 
the  translation  is  as  literal  as  possible,  preserving,  at  some  sacrifice 
of  English  idiom,  the  recurring  verb.  The  conquests  of  a  people 
are  the  conquests  of  its  god,  who  bestows  upon  them  the  territory 
of  the  conquered ;  they  hold  it  by  a  divine  right  which  should 
be  respected  by  others  who  hold  their  own  territories  by  the 
hke  title. —  Chemosh  is  the  national  god  of  Moab  (i  K.  ii^ 
cf.  11^  2  K.  23^^^),  and  Moab  is  the  people  of  Chemosh  (Nu.  21^^ 
Jer.  48"*^),  just  as  Yahweh  is  the  god  of  Israel,  and  Israel  the 
people  of  Yahweh.  So  in  the  inscription  of  Mesha,  king  of  Moab, 
we  read  that  the  king  of  Israel  oppressed  Moab  a  long  time, 
"  because  Chemosh  was  angry  with  his  land  "  (1.  5f.)  ;  he  erects  a 
sanctuary  to  Chemosh  in  gratitude  for  deliverance  (1.  3).  %  The 
reaUty  and  power  of  the  national  god  of  Moab  were  no  more 
doubted  by  the  old  Israelites  than  those  of  Yahweh  himself  A 
conspicuous  illustration  of  this  is  2  K.  3^,  where  a  signal  disaster 
of  the  Israelite  arms  before  the  capital  of  Moab  is  attributed  to 
the  fury  of  Chemosh,  excited  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  king's  son.  § 
The  national  god  of  the  Ammonites,  on  the  contrary,  was  Milcom 

*  First  NE.,  to  Qal'at  ez-Zerqa,  then  NW.  to  its  junction  with  Wady  Gerash, 
where  it  finally  turns  to  the  west ;  see  also  on  v. is. 

t  On  the  text,  see  note. 

X  Cf.  also  1,  8  f.,  12  f.,  14,  19,  17  f. 

^  See  Baudissin,  Studien  zur  semii.  Keligtonsgeschichte ,  i.  p.  55  fif. ;  Smend, 
Alttest.  Religionsgesck.,  p,  iii  f.     On  Chemosh,  see  Baethgen,  Beitrdge,  p.  13-15. 


^T.  23-25  295 

(i  K.  11^  cf.  ir'  2  K.  23'';  also  Jer.  49'  '')•*  From  the  fact  that 
Chemosh  is  named  here  instead  of  Milcom,  older  commentators 
inferred  that  Chemosh  was  worshipped  by  the  Ammonites  as  well 
as  by  Moab.f  In  itself  there  is  no  difficulty  in  admitting  this ; 
we  know  that  both  Chemosh  and  Milcom  were  worshipped  in 
Israel  for  centuries ;  but  it  is  inconceivable  that  the  conc^uests  of 
Amnion  should  be  attributed  to  the  national  god  of  the  sister 
people,  as  it  would  be  that  the  conquests  of  Israel  should  be 
ascribed  to  any  god  but  Yahweh.  Others  are  inclined  to  assume 
that  Milcom  may  also  have  been  called  Chemosh ;  +  or  tiiat 
Chemosh  is  a  slip  of  the  pen  on  the  part  of  the  author ;  §  or  a 
scribe's  blunder.  ||  But  the  whole  preceding  and  following  con- 
text has  to  do  with  Moab  only,  and  the  name  of  Chemosh  is  not 
an  accident  to  be  explained  by  itself;  the  error  runs  through  the 
whole  learned  argument. 

20.  13^  Sn-^'^>  nx  nn>D  i^osn  n^i]  pro  tuto  non  habebat  Sihhon,  Israelcm 
transire,  Ges.  Thes.;  cf.  Ew.  §  336  b.  The  construction  is  anomalous  (Job  15-"'', 
irn  >JD  3v^  pDN^  x'^,  is  not  parallel),  and  the  comparison  of  the  accus.  with 
inf.  is  misleading,  ©avlmo  g  j  has  koI  ovk  -rjOiXvcre  St^wj;  t6p  lapa-qX  duXdely, 
which  probably  represents  'Ji  pn^D  ^ndm;  cf.  Nu.  20^1  Snt^*"  dn  ]'n:  a-nx  is::m 
iSdj3  -\bv;  t  ]HT2^  was  corrupted  to  pN%  which  necessitated  the  introduction  of 
the  negative,  giving  the  text  of  |^,  followed  by  ©^n  ^^.  —  n-in>2  un'i]  in 
Is.  1$-^  Jer.  48=^^  Mesha,  1.  19,  the  name  is  yn\  The  locative  a,  Nu.  2i23  Dt.  2^^^ 
seems  to  be  mistaken  for  fern,  ending,  as  in  Jer.  48-1  Jos.  13''*  i  Chr.  6''^; 
Sta.  §  342  d.  **  —  24.  'J1  tt'iOD  iir'nv  iir'N  nx]  the  double  accusative  would  com- 
pel us  to  take  the  verb  in  a  different  sense  {cause  thee  to  possess,  2  Chr.  20II), 
thus  destroying  the  symmetry  of  the  sentence.  The  final  3  has  arisen  by 
dittography  from  the  following. 

25,  26.  The  right  of  adverse  possession.  —  The  king  of  Moab 
at  the  time  of  the  conquest  did  not  try  to  recover  this  territory  ; 
for  three  hundred  years  Israel  has  been  in  unchallenged  possession 
of  it.  —  25.  Now,  art  thou  any  better  than  Balak  son  of  Zippor, 
king  of  Moab  ?  Did  he  have  any  contention  with  Israel,  or  did 
he  ever  go  to  war  with  them  ?~\  the  story  of  E  (Nu.  22-*^),  on 
which  the  author  is  probably  here  as  in  the  foregoing  dependent, 

*  Mispronounced  in  ffl.        f  Cler.,  Schm. ;  against  this  explanation,  Stud. 
X  Be.        ^  Baethgen.        ||  Sayce.       H  Cf,  also  Nu.  21'^  \~i  N*^,  Dt.  2«"  n^s  n\ 
**  Hitz.  ijes.,  p.  187  f.)  and  Kneucker  (BL.s.  v.)  think  that  there  were  two  cities, 
Jahaz  and  Jahazah. 


296  JUDGES 

gives  the  answer :  Balak  did  not  contest  with  Israel  the  possession 
of  the  lands  north  of  the  Arnon.  Is  the  present  king  of  Amnion, 
then,  a  greater  man  than  Balak,  that  he  would  vindicate  his  claim 
to  this  territory?  The  question  is  not  whether  he  has  a  better 
claim  than  Balak,  from  one  of  whose  recent  predecessors  the 
country  had  been  taken  by  the  Amorites,*  but  whether  he  thinks 
himself  superior  to  Balak,  able  to  do  what  Balak  did  not  dare, 
namely,  to  try  to  take  this  territory  from  Israel ;  cf.  i  S.  9^  Am.  6^ 
Nah.  3^  —  26.  Why  had  they  not  recovered  these  cities  in  the 
three  hundred  years  during  which  Israel  had  inhabited  them 
unmolested?  —  hi  Heshbon  and  its  dependencies^  Nu.  21-^;  the 
towns  and  villages  which  belonged  to  it  (i^  &c.).  —  A7'oer\  is  not 
named  in  Nu.  21 ;  Dt.  2^^  3^  Jos.  12^  2  K.  10^  locate  it  on  the 
banks  of  the  Arnon,  the  southernmost  city  of  Israel  east  of  the 
Jordan ;  cf.  Mesha,  1.  26,  Jer,  48^^.  Eusebius  gives  a  good 
description  of  its  situation.f  The  ruins,  still  bearing  the  name 
*Ara  ir.  He  on  the  edge  of  the  precipitous  north  bank  of  Wady 
Mogib,  where  the  Roman  road  crosses  the  gorge.  %  —  And  in  all 
the  towns  which  are  adjacent  to  the  Arno7i\  along  its  northern 
side ;  the  southern  border  of  Israel.  Instead  of  these  places  in 
the  extreme  south,  (§  has :  in  Heshbon  and  its  dependencies,  a7id 
in  Jaazer  and  its  dependencies,  and  in  all  the  cities  along  the 
Jordan.^  Jaazer  (Nu.  21^-  2  S.  24^  &c.)  was  eight  or  ten  miles 
west  of  Philadelphia  ('Amman),  ||  and  is  described  as  a  frontier 
town  of  Ammon  (Nu.  21^^  #).  The  reading  of  (^  in  our  verse  is 
obviously  original ;  Aroer  and  the  Arnon  in  J^  were  suggested  by 
v.^*^  (cf.  Nu.  21^^^),  and  represent  the  tendency  of  late  editors 
and  scribes  to  enlarge  the  borders  of  Israel  at  the  expense  of  all 
its  neighbours.  —  For  three  hundred  years']  the  addition  of  the 
numbers  given  in  the  preceding  chapters  for  the  duration  of  the 
several  ''  oppressions  "  and  the  rule  of  the  successive  judges  gives 
the  sum  of  three  hundred  and  nineteen  years,  or,  if  the  eighteen 
years  of  the  Ammonite  oppression  (10^)  be  omitted,  three  hun- 

*  Lth.,  Pise.  t  OS^.  21209. 

X  Sec  Reland,  Palaestina,  p.  582  f. ;  Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  372 ;  Tristram,  Latid 
of  Moab,  p.  144  f. 
^  See  crit.  note. 
II  O.S2.  264.„.  cf.  2122.5. 


XI.  25-27  297 

dred  and  one  years.*  The  coincidence  is  so  close  as  to  suggest 
that  the  computation  was  made  upon  the  basis  of  the  ijresent 
chronology  of  the  book.  If  this  be  the  case,  the  figures  must 
have  been  inserted  by  the  last  editor,  or  a  still  later  hand.t  The 
connexion  of  v.-*^  with  the  preceding  would  be  much  more 
intimate  if  the  number  were  omitted :  Did  Balak  make  any 
opposition  when  Israel  setUed  in  Heshbon  .  .  .  Why  didst  thou 
(Moab)  not  reclaim  them  at  that  time.  —  27.  Israel  has  in  no 
way  offended  against  Ammon ;  the  latter  is  altogether  in  the 
wrong  in  the  present  invasion.  —  /  have  committed  no  faidt'\  the 
/  is  Israel,  not  Jephthah ;  see  above  on  v.^l  —  Let  Yahwch,  who 
is  arbiter  to-day^  decide  between  Israelites  and  Anunonites']  the 
order  of  the  words  seems  to  favour  this  construction,  %  rather  than 
that  which  connects  to-day  with  the  principal  verb.  Let  Yahweh  the 
Judge  decide  to-day..^  Compare  in  general,  i  S.  24"'-^^  Gen.  31" 
16^11 

25.  nnx  2^a  3W]  the  words  are  regarded  by  many  as  standing  in  the  same 
relation  to  each  other  as  the  following  nnSj  anSj  dn  3-j  3nn,  the  first  2\o  being 
inf.  absol.,  the  second,  participle.t  So  Schm.';  Roorda,  §  565;  Ew.  §  312  a; 
SS.  There  is  no  similar  case  (Roorda);  and  we  should  perhaps  have  to 
suppose  that  the  bold  and  unusual  construction  was  suggested  by  the  analogy 
of  the  following  clauses.  Others  take  both  words  as  adjectives,  the  reiteration 
being  emphatic,  art  thou  so  much  better  (Ges.'^s  §  133,  i  n.;  Green,  §  296,  3  a). 
The  analogy  of  the  following  clauses  may  be  recognized  also  in  this  explana- 
tion. It  is  not  to  be  assumed  that  the  writer  was  conscious  of  the  grammatical 
difference  which  we  make  between  adj.,  ptcp.,  and  inf.  abs.;  for  him  2Vj  was 
3113.  _  (gBN  ^^  iv  d^a^v  dTtt^cirepos  av  virkp  \la\aK  (=  |i?):  ©^VLMO  g  C  O  /xi? 
KpeLa(TO}v  el  aii  k.t.L  It  is  possible  that  the  repetition  of  3rj  is  due  to  a  scribe, 
rather  than  to  the  author.  — 2n  2>-in]  2>-i  is  a  controversy  about  rights;  cf.  ii~. 
—  DnSj  DhSj  as]  the  inf.  abs.  formed  from  the  perf.  stem,  Sta.  §  626  c\   used 


*  Cushan-rishathaim  (38),  8;  Othniel  {3^^),AO\  Eglon  (3"),  18;  Ehud  (38"). 
80;  Jabin  (48),  20;  Deborah  (s^i),  40;  Midianites  (6I),  7;  Gideon  {?:^*),  40; 
Abimelech  {^^),3\  Tola  (io2),23;  Jair  (lo^),  22  =  301;  Ammonites  (io«).  18; 
total,  319.  The  years  of  Joshua  and  the  survivors  of  the  generation  of  the  con- 
quest (2^)  are  not  taken  into  the  account. 

t  The  alternative  is  to  suppose  that  300  is  a  round  number,  the  coincidence  of 
which  with  the  sum  of  the  years  in  the  present  chronology  is  purely  accidental,— 
a  very  improbable  hypothesis.  t  ^^T,  Stud..  Be. 

§  m  (accents)  &,  Schm.,  Ke.,  Kitt.,  al. ;  cf.  Cler. 

II  On  Yahweh  as  judge,  sec  Smend,  Alttest.  Re/ixioiisx^cschicht,:,  p.  99  ^■.    -P- 


298  JUDGES 

\vith"^hc  pcrf.  on   account   of  the   assonance;    Bo.    §  985,    i;    988,   2  b. — 

26.  -\x;-y;  *]  elsewhere  -\;;i;;  (Mesha,  1.  26,  Nu.  2^6  and  uniformly  in  the  Penta- 
teuch), or  nyn>'  {e.g.  Jos.  13"'');  see  Frensdorff,  Massoret.  Worierb.,  p.  314; 
Norzi,  ad  loc.  The^  name  seems  to  be  an  internal  plural.  On  the  etymology, 
see  Lagarde,  Semitica,  i.  p.  30.  —  pjiN  ni  Sf\  more  commonly  T«  S;%  Ex.  2^ 
Nu.  1329  Jer.  466  Dan.  lo*  (streams,  cf.  Dt.  237),  Jqs.  154c  Ez.  48^  (Sx,  cities); 
adjacent  to.  Not,  on  both  sides  of  the  Arnon  (Kitt.),  which  contradicts  the  whole 
theory  of  the  author,  and  is  without  support  in  usage;  cf.  Nu.  34^.  —  (5^^  t  iv 
Eae^uiv  .  .  .  Kal  iv  la^r/p  /cat  ev  rais  dvyarpdcnv  avrrjs  Kal  iv  TrdcraiS  rais 
wdXeaiv  raXs  irapa  ttjv  'lopddvrjv.  Other  recensions  have  iv  Aporjp  or  iv  7^ 
Aporjp  (B) ;  L  omits  the  clause  altogether.  Juxta  Jordanem  also  11.  —  ynm 
□nSsn  n':']  (5^^  5id  rl  ouk  ippvaw  avrovs.*  The  sing,  thou  has  been  used 
throughout,  and  is  intrinsically  preferable  here;  we  should  therefore  probably 
pronounce  Dr^rxn  (Stud.);  the  masc.  suffix  for  the  fern,  is  not  infrequent; 
here,  if  necessary,  it  might  be  explained  as  ad  sensuin  for  the  people  of  the 
cities.  —  i^''r\r\  n>o]  at  that  time  ;  3^9  4^  12^  14*  2\^^-  2*,  and  frequently.  There 
is  no  instance  in  the  O.T.  in  which  the  phrase  approaches  the  sense,  during 
all  that  time.  This  gives  considerable  support  to  the  hypothesis  advanced 
above   on  other  grounds,   that   three  hundred  years   is  an  interpolation. — 

27.  Di'^n  DDi^'n  nin>  dd!:'^]  the  accents  indicate  that  ZiVr\  is  to  be  taken  with  the 
principal  verb  (against  Be.). 

28,  29.  The  king  of  Ammon  pays  no  heed  to  Jephthah's  repre- 
sentations. The  spirit  of  Yahweh  comes  upon  the  champion, 
and  he  leads  against  the  foe.  In  v.^^  the  redactor  endeavours  to 
recover  the  thread  of  the  narrative,  which  is  broken  by  the  long 
interpolation,  v.^^'-^.  —  29.  The  spirit  of  Yah^weli]  see  on  3^",  and 
cf.  i4''-^''*  I  S.  11^.  —  He  went  over  to  Gilead  and  Manasseh,  and 
went  over  to  Mizpeh  of  Gilead ;  f  and  from  Mizpeh  of  Gilead  he 
went  over  to  the  Amino7iites\  it  is  not  possible  to  form  any  satis- 
factory notion  of  these  movements  or  of  their  object.  In  v.^^ 
Jephthah  was  already  in  Gilead,  and  probably  at  Mizpah,  where 
he  apparently  still  is  in  v.-^"*'  ;  his  setting  out  against  the  Ammon- 
ites is  related  in  due  course  in  v.^-.  In  itself  it  is  conceivable 
enough  that  these  journeys  to  and  fro  in  Gilead  and  Manasseh 
were  for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  tribes  for  the  war,  %  though  we 
should  expect  some  indication  of  the  fact  (cf.  6^^  f^  «8z:c.) ;  but 
this  cannot  be  the  intention  of  the  author  of  the  chaptd^r,  accord- 
ing to  whom  the  Israelites  were  already  assembled  (v.""  cf.  10^^). 

*  The  other  recensions  of  ©  have  t-ppuoaj/To  {^  e$ei\avTo). 
I  On  the  form  Mizpeh  see  on  v.H,  p.  289.  X  Be. 


XT.  28-33  290 

In  short,  v.^  is  a  somewhat  unskilful  attempt  to  fasten  the  new- 
cloth,  v.^-"-*^,  into  the  old  garment. 

30,  31.  Jephthah's  vow.  — These  verses  should  stand  immedi- 
ately after  v.^^'' ;  having  been  acclaimed  chieftain  by  the  i)eople, 
Jephthah  vows  that  if  Yahweh  will  give  him  victory  over  the 
Ammonites,  he  will  offer  him  a  human  sacrifice,  v.'*'  •"  ;  these  fate- 
ful words  were  uttered  before  YaJnveh  at  Mizpah,  v."''  cf.  v.'*-'  •'^. 
He  then  puts  himself  at  the  head  of  the  people  and  marches 
against  the  Ammonites,  v."^-.  The  order  has  been  deranged  by 
the  introduction  of  v.^--"'*,  and  perhaps  still  further  by  the  acci- 
dental consequences  of  the  interpolation;  see  above  on  v.". — 
30.  Jephthah  made  a  vow  to  Yah%vch'\  cf.  Gen.  28'-"'-=^-'  i  S.  i" 
2  S.  15^^-.  —  31.  Whoever  it  may  be  that  comes  out  of  the  door  of 
my  house  to  meet  me,  when  I  return  successful  from  the  A?H?non- 
ites  shall  be  Yahweh' s^  a7id  I  will  offer  him  up  as  a  burnt  offer- 
ing'] the  original  sequel  of  this  verse  is  v."*' :  Afid  Jephthah  spoke 
all  his  words  before  Yahweh  at  Mizpah.  —  Quemlibet  in  hoc  loco 
cogitaverit  Jephte  secundum  cogitationem  humanam,  non  videtur 
unicam  filiam  cogitasse ;  alioquin  non  diceret,  cum  illam  cerneret 
occurrisse,  Heu  me,  filia  mea,  impedisti  me  ;  in  offendiculum 
facta  es  in  oculis  meis.  .  .  .  Sed  quem  potuit  cogitare  primitus 
occurrentem,  qui  filios  alios  non  habebat?  An  conjugem  cogita- 
verit ?  *  —  That  a  human  victim  is  intended  is,  in  fact,  as  i)lain  as 
words  can  make  it ;  the  language  is  inapplicable  to  an  animal,  and 
a  vow  to  offer  the  first  sheep  or  goat  that  he  comes  across  —  not 
to  mention  the  possibihty  of  an  unclean  animal  —  is  trivial  to 
absurdity.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a  rash  vow  to  sacrifice  whatever 
first  meets  him,t  for  which  he  is  punished,  \  but  a  deliberate  one. 
See  further  on  v.^'"^,  and  note  at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 

32,  33.   The  war ;  defeat  and  subjugation  of  the  Ammonites. 

— Jephthah  went  over  to  the  Ammonites  to  fight  with  them]  he 
took  the  aggressive,  and,  as  appears  both  from  the  language  here 
and  from  the  next  Verse,  invaded  their  territory.  §  —  33.  Be  beat 
them  from  Aroer  till  you  come  to  AIi?mith,  tiventy  cities,  and  as 


*  Aug.,  quaest.  49. 

t  Fl.  Jos.,  atltt.  V.  7,  10  \  263,  \>-no(TXO^^vo<i  .   .  .  -nh-v  o  ti  k(x\  npmrov  avTw  <tvvtv\oi 
lepovpyr,(TeLy.  X  Thdt.  ^  Fl.  JOS. 


300  JUDGES 

far  as  Abel-ke7'amij7i\  the  direction  and  extent  of  this  victorious 
advance  cannot  now  be  made  out.  Aroer  cannot  be  the  city  of 
this  name  on  the  Anion  (v.-*^),*  but  "Aroer  which  is  in  front  of 
Rabbah"  (Rabbah  of  Ammon),  Jos.  13^  ;t  that  is,  as  is  gen- 
erally understood,  east  of  that  city.  Minnith  is  connected  by 
Eusebius  with  a  village  called  in  his  day  Maanith,  four  miles 
from  Heshbon  on  the  road  to  Philadelphia ;  \  for  Abel-keramim 
(Vineyard-meadow)  he  suggests  a  village  Abel  six  miles  from 
Philadelphia,  in  what  direction  is  not  indicated.  §  The  situation 
of  Maanith  does  not  suit  the  requirement  of  our  text ;  we  should 
look  for  Minnith  in  Ammonite  territory  beyond  Aroer,  not  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Heshbon.  The  other  identifications  pro- 
posed are  not  verifiable.  —  Twenty  towns\  summary  account  of 
Jephthah's  conquests ;  cf.  Jos.  lo^-.  But  for  these  words,  which 
stand  moreover  in  a  somewhat  suspicious  place,  we  should  take 
the  verse  as  a  description  of  the  battle.  —  The  A^mnonites  were 
subjugated'^  see  on  3^ ;  cf.  Z^  i  S.  7^^. 

29.  nySjn  dn  -\1'^>\\  -\iv  with  ace.  'go  over,  pass,  to  a  place,'  iS^^  cf.  12^ 
Am.  5^  62  Is.  23^  &c.  (SS.).  *  Pass  through,  traverse,'  a  region  is  ':3  13;,  i  S.  9* 
and  often.  —  pDj?  ij2  n3>']  an  anomalous  expression.  Like  other  verbs  of 
motion,  when  the  goal  is  personal,  -\i')  is  construed  with  Sn  (S>'),  v.^'^  12^  &c. 
See  Ges.'^^  §  118,  2.  The  instances  where  the  ace.  is  found  (poet,  and  late; 
cf.  I  S.  13^'^),  only  make  it  more  probable  that  in  our  verse  we  have  the  language 
of  a  comparatively  late  redactor.  —  31.  NS'' itrx  vSS'ini]  the  cognate  subject 
appears  to  emphasize  the  indefiniteness  (universality)  of  the  promise,  Who- 
ever it  may  be.  —  'So  PNnpS  NX""  is  used  only  of  persons;  "'n"'^  TiViD  would  not 
be  said  of  domestic  animals.  —  n'^j;  inTi"i'7;;m  mniS  nim]  the  last  words  explain 
the  first,  which  by  themselves  might  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  i  S.  i^^. 
Moses  Kimchi  interpreted  the  second  clause  as  an  alternative.  Shall  be  qonse- 
crated  to  Yahweh  (if  unfit  for  sacrifice),  or  (if  suitable)  I  will  offer  it  as  a 
burnt  offering.  See  below,  note  on  v.*".  —  33.  The  Ammonite  Aroer  is 
named  only  here  and  in  Jos.  1325,  np  -"Jd  Sy  nB'x  "i;?nj;  ny.  The  phrase  ■'JD  Sy 
in  topographical  notices  generally  means  'east  of  (see  on  16^).  In  2  S.  24^ 
Aroer  on  the  Arnon  is  meant;  see  We.,  TBS.  p.  217,  221 ;  Dr.,  TBS.  p.  285  f.; 
Di.,  NDJ.  p.  514;  so  also  Nu.  328*  (against  DB"^.  i.  p.  248).  Nu.  2i-«b  (S>, 
they  took  all  his  [Sihon's]  country,  a-Kh  Kpoiqp  ^a»s  Apvuv,  is  probably,  like 


♦  Stud. 

t  In  this  verse  (P)  it  is  allotted  to  Gaf,  which  gets  "half  the  country  of  the 
Ammonites,  as  far  as  Aroer,"  &c.     It  was  therefore  an  Ammonite  town. 

X  OS'i.  28O44 ;    cf.  Fl.  Jos.  U.,  UavidOri.  §  Kus/JLT)  dMffeA64.opos  A^eA,  OS'-^.  21255. 


XI.  33-35  30I 

n>n  in  f^,  an  error  for  p3>D.  — r>::o]  in  Ez.  27^^,  7^//m/  a/  Minnith,  the  text  is 
corrupt;  see  Co.  Buckingham's  Menjah,  6  or  7  ni.  NE.  of  Hesban  on  the 
road  to  'Amman,  with  which  Kneucker  (i9Z.  s.v.)  and  others  would  identify 
Minnith,  seems  not  to  exist;  see  Tristram,  Land  of  Moab,  p.  155;  SEP. 
Memoirs^  and  Map.  Minyeh  (Conder,  Heth  and  Moab,  p.  252)  is  much  too 
far  south.  —  □'•DnD  S^n]  Euseb.  notes  two  other  Abels,  one  12  m.  E.  of  Gadara 
(modern  Abil),  the  other  between  Damascus  and  Paneas.  Tristram  {Land 
of  Moab,  p.  154  f.),  supposing  the  battle  to  have  been  fought  at  the  Moabitc 
Aroer,  on  the  Arnon,  would  recognize  our  Abel-keramim  in  the  Kurm  Dhihan, 
a  mile  or  two  east  of  Dhiban. 

34-40.  Jephthah's  return;  his  meeting  with  his  daughter; 
the  fulfilment  of  his  vow. — Jephthah  returns  in  triumph. 
Among  the  women  who  celebrate  the  victory  with  choral  dances 
his  only  daughter  comes  joyfully  to  meet  him.  The  father  is  in 
despair,  but  he  must  keep  his  fatal  vow.  The  maiden  receives 
her  doom  in  a  heroic  spirit ;  she  is  ready  to  die,  since  Yahweh  has 
avenged  her  father  of  his  foes ;  she  only  asks  two  months'  respite 
to  mourn  her  maidenhood.  When  they  are  over  she  returns,  and 
Jephthah  fulfils  his  vow.  In  her  memory  the  women  keep  a  feur- 
days'  festival  every  year.  —  34.  Jephthah  came  to  his  home  at 
Mizpah']  from  Mizpah  he  set  out  to  the  war,  v."**-^-.  That  he 
had  a  home  there,  we  learn  first  from  this  verse ;  from  v.'^"""  we 
should  not  have  suspected  it.  The  two  representations  are  not 
necessarily  irreconcilable.  —  There  was  his  daughter,  coming  out 
to  77ieet  him']  the  author  depicts  the  scene  with  great  vividness  ; 
of  4^^  5^*^-.  —  With  tambourines  and  choral  dances]  as  the  women 
met  David,  i  S.  i8^*-  (cf.  21"  29^),  or  as  Miriam  celebrated  the 
overthrow  of  Egypt  at  the  Red  Sea,  Ex.  i5"'^^^-.  —  She  was  abso- 
lutely an  only  child ;  besides  this  one  he  had  neither  son  nor 
daughter]  expressions  are  accumulated  to  emphasize  the  total 
bereavement  which  thus  confronted  him.  —  35.  He  rent  his 
gaj'ments]  a  gesture  of  violent  grief  or  mourning.  Gen.  i,']--' 
2  S.  i^^'^-'^^  Job  I-"  and  often.  —  Oh,  my  daughter,  thou  hast  ruined 
me]  ht.  felled  me,  as  by  a  deadly  blow;  2  S.  22*'  cf.  Jud.  5-'^. — 
Thou  art  become  the  author  of  my  calamity]  with  tragic  emphasis. 
Thou !  The  translation  of  the  English  version,  Thou  art  one 
of  thefn  that  trouble  me,  is,  at  least  for  the  modern  reader,  both 
feeble  and  misleading ;  the  verb  is  one  of  the  strongest  in  the 
language;  cf.  Gen.  34''"  Jos.  6^""  7"^  i  S.  14--  i  K.  iB>'^'-^\  — Inas- 


302  JUDGES 

much  as  I  have  spokeii  a  solemn  word  to  Yahweh,  and  cannot  go 
back']  lit.  have  opened  my  mouth  wide,  uttered  a  great  and  dread- 
ful vow ;  cf.  Job  35^'^'  Ps.  66^^^-.  With  the  last  words  compare 
Am.  i^  &c.  —  36.  She  feels  her  doom  in  her  father's  passionate, 
though  vague  words,  and  answers  with  tragic  heroism,  So  let  it 
be  !  Since  it  appears  in  v.^^  that  she  is  fully  aware  of  her  fate, 
although  it  has  not  been  named,  Budde  conceives  that,  by 
accident  or  design,  part  of  the  dialogue  has  been  omitted  between 
v.^  and  v.^ ;  the  daughter  must  have  asked  the  meaning  of  her 
father's  enigmatic  speech,  v.^,  and  he  must  have  given  the  exphcit 
answer.*  To  me  it  seems,  on  the  contrary,  much  more  in  accord 
with  the  native  art  of  the  story-teller  that  he  lets  the  situation  and 
a  woman's  quick  presentiment  suffice,  without  this  prosaic  expla- 
nation.—  My  father]  all  the  pathos  of  the  situation  is  in  the 
word.  With  a  woman's  tenderness  and  a  woman's  courage,  she 
strengthens  him  for  what  is  before  them  both  :  Thou  hast  uttered 
thy  vow  to  Yahweh  ;  do  to  me  what  thou  hast  vowed.  Lit.  as  it 
hath  proceeded  from  thy  7nouth ;  Nu.  30^.  The  spoken  word  is 
conceived  as  a  real  thing;  cf.  Is.  55^°^'.  —  Since  Yahweh  hath 
wrotight  for  thee  ve?igeance  of  thine  e?iemies]  for  such  a  victory 
she  is  content  to  die.  —  37.  She  asks  only  .a  brief  respite.  —  Spare 
me  two  months]  cf.  i  S.  11^.  —  That  I  may  go  dow?t  upon  the 
mountains  and  weep  because  of  my  7naidenhood]  mourn  that  my 
young  life  is  cut  off  in  its  flower.  —  38.  Jephthah  grants  her 
request,  and  sends  her  away  for  two  months,  which  she  spends 
with  her  companions  in  mourning,  among  the  mountains. — 
39.  When  the  time  was  up,  she  returned  to  her  father.  —  And  he 
did  to  her  what  he  had  vowed  to  do]  vF°.  The  reserve  of  the 
writer,  who  draws  the  veil  over  the  last  act  of  the  tragedy,  has 
been  abused  by  the  rationalistic  interpreters  who  choose  to 
imagine  that  he  did  something  altogether  different  from  what 
he  had  vowed ;  see  note  below.  —  She  not  having  known  a  inan] 
circumstantial  clause ;  she  died  a  virgin.  Gen.  24^*^  &c.  To  con- 
nect and  translate,  He  did  to  her  what  he  had  vowed,  and  she  did 
not  knoiu  a  ma7i,  that  is,  remained  unmarried  for  the  rest  of  her 
life,t  is  ungrammatical ;  \   if  the  writer  had   meant  this  he  must 

•  Richt,  «.  Sam.,  p.  126.  f  DKi.,  Cler.,  K6.,  al.  mu.  +  Be.,  Bu. 


XI.  35-40  303 

have  written  the  last  clause  differently.  On  the  history  of  inter- 
pretation see  note  below,  p.  304  f.  —  40.  It  became  the  custom 
for  the  Israelite  women  to  observe  annually  a  four  days'  mourning 
for  Jephthah's  daughter.  —  To  lament^  this  interpretation,  which 
is  that  of  the  ancient  versions,*  suits  the  construction  and  context 
better  than,  commemorate,  celebrate,  which  most  modern  commen- 
tators adopt. 

34.  iPNipS  nNX>  mj  njm]  cf.  i  S.  9I*  Ex.  4"  Gen.  2415- «  &c.  njn  of  unex- 
pected coincidence;  see  on  42''^.  —  niSn;::3i  z^^or^^']  qr  is  a  tambourine,  used  as 
an  accompaniment  of  women's  choral  dances,  Ex.  1520  i  s.  18'^  (cf.  Ps.  68'* 
150'*),  and  on  other  festal  occasions,  Is.  s^-^  248  &c.  See  Niebuhr,  A'eisebe- 
schreibung,  i.  p.  180  f.;  Lane,  Modern  Egyptian^,  p.  366;  DB.  s.v.  "Tim- 
brel." On  the  dances  see  Spencer,  De  legibus  ritualibus,  K  iv.  c.  4;  Leyrer, 
PRE^.  XV.  p.  206-208;  DB^.  i.  p.  703-705;  Wetzstein,  Zeitschr.  f.  Ethnologie, 
1873,  p.  285  fF.;  cf.  Delitzsch,  Hoheslied,  p.  170  fT.  —  m^n"'  N>n  p-n]  ac  tantum 
ilia  unigenita  fuit.  Cf.  Job  i^^,  "'-13'?  "-JN  p-^  nr^oNi.  —  r^i  p  i:c::  i':'  ps]  the 
masc.  suff.  is  perhaps  to  be  explained  as  attraction  to  the  following  p,  and  is 
more  probably  from  the  hand  of  a  scribe  than  of  the  author,  ©avlmo  TrXr^v 
avT^s.  The  Massora  notes  six  passages  in  which  udd  is  read  where  njr:?:  would 
be  expected  (in-'jD) ;  see  Norzi  ad  loc,  and  Frensdorff,  Massoret.  IV'orterb., 
p.  255.  —  35.  ijn>'nDn  yiDn]  Hiph.  is  here  causative  to  Kal  in  the  sense,  '  sink 
down,  collapse '  (the  knees  giving  way)  under  a  blow  or  wound,  5-^  2  K.  9-*; 
hence,  strike  down,  prostrate,  lay  low,  not  bring  low,  i.e.  humble  (EV.).  The 
identity  of  the  consonants  with  those  of  the  following  -\y;,  in  which  we  may 
recognize  an  intentional  paronomasia,  has  led  to  considerable  confusion  in  the 
versions.  —  >'\y}l  niTi]  not,  one  of  those  who,  but,  as,  in  the  character  of,  one 
who  brings  disaster  on  me  ;  cf.  Ps.  118"  54*^  Ex.  1 8'*,  Ges."-^  p.  366;  Roorda,  ii. 
p.  204  f.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  the  punctuation,  which  makes  the 
ptcp.  plural,  is  correct;  cf.  Ex.  i8-*  with  Ps.  118^.  —  ia  vn^xij]  Ez.  2^  Nu.  16*^ 
Dt.  n6  Gen.  4I1.  — 37.  '^0  p  n£3nn]  Dt.  9",  'V  r\r:r\r\  2  K.  42?  i  S.  ii^.— 
>n^>"\]  corrected  by  the  Qere  to  \ni;n  as  in  v.^^.  The  Kethib  would  be  pro- 
nounced ^n'^'V"),  cf.  ip^p  Cant,  i^  &c.  (n>;;-|0);  Sta.  §  192  <^.  —  38.  2>u-in  >jr] 
cf.  D'la'in  CJir  yP.  —  39.  t:'\s'  n>n''  nS  N>ni]  the  pronoun  shows  that  this  is 
not  the  consequence  of  the  preceding :  He  did  to  her  as  he  had  vowcd^  and 
(consequently)  she  did  not  know  a  man,^  for  which  we  should  have  simply  n':'1 
tt'ns  r\';-\\  but  an  additional  circumstance.  —  'J1  pn  ^nni]  should  be  joined  to  the 
following  verse.  The  false  division  may  be  due  to  an  interpretation  such  as 
that  appended  in  some  copies  of  ^.  —  40.  nc»:D>  cct]  from  year  to  year  ; 
21^^  I  S.  i^  2^9  Ex.  13!^  cf.  above  on  11*.  —  nijn'^]  ©  dprji-eTy;  similarly  all 
the  ancient  versions,  Ra.,  al.  D.  Kimchi,  in  conformity  with  his  theory 
of  solitary  confinement,  interpreted,  to  talk  7vith,  and  console  her ;  similarly 


*  So  also  Lth.,  AV.,  a).  t  Cler.,  al. ;  recently,  K6. 


304  JUDGES 

RLbG.,  A^barb.,  Drus.,  Cler.,  al.  Tanch.  explained,  after  Arab,,  celebrate, 
praise  (see  note  above  on  5II);  so  Stud.,  Be,,  Ke,,  Cass,,  Oettli,  RV.,  al.  mu. 
The  construction  with  S  is  not  favourable  to  this,  and  there  is  also  a  phonetic 
difficulty  in  the  equation.  It  is  better  to  abide  by  the  exegetical  tradition, 
supported  by  the  construction  and  the  indications  of  the  context,  than  to 
follow  the  guidance  of  a  very  dubious  etymology. 

JephthaK's  vow.  —  On  the  history  of  interpretation  see  especially  Reinke, 
JBeiirdge  zur  Erkldrung  des  Alten  Testamentes,  i.  p.  419  ff.;  Kohler,  Bibl. 
Geschichte,  ii.  I.  p.  100  f.;  the  older  literature  also  in  Pfeiffer,  Dubia  vexata, 
cent.  ii.  locus  60;  Exercitaiiones  biblicae,  exerc.  7;  Dresde,  Votum  Jephtae, 
1 767 ;  o  cf.  a  Lapide  ad  loc.  —  The  older  Jewish  and  Christian  interpreters, 
without  exception,  understood  the  words  in  their  plain  and  natural  sense; 
Jephthah  fulfilled  his  vow  by  offering  his  daughter  as  a  burnt-offering.  See 
for  the  former,  Fl,  Jos,,  atitt.  v.  7,  10  §  263-266;  Taanith,  4.^;  K  in  loc; 
Beresh.  rab.  §  60,  and  parallels;  Yalqut,  ii.  §  68;  Ra,  So  of  the  Fathers, 
Orig.,  Chrysost^  Greg.  Naz.,  Thdt.,  Procop.,  Ambros.,  August.,  Hieron., 
Epiph.,  Ephrem  Syr.,  al.;*  followed  by  Beda,  Hugo  Victor,  Th.  Aquinas, 
and  the  scholastic  exegesis  generally;  see  a  Lap.,  ad  loc.  The  notion  that 
she  was  not  offered  in  sacrifice,  but  shut  up  in  a  house  by  herself,  where  she 
lived  and  died  unmarried,  appears  first,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  the  Kimchis 
(end  of  1 2th  cent.  A.D.),  D,  Kimchi's  explanation  was  adopted  by  RLbG., 
Abarb.,  Sol.  ben  Melech;  a  Lyra,  Arias,  Vatabl.,  Jun.,  Drus.,  Cler.,  de  Dieu, 
al.  mu.,  many  of  whom  suppose  that  she  was  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary  in  menial  offices,  and  prohibited  to  marry;  see  esp,  Cler.  The  sound 
exegetical  sense  of  Luther  rejected  these  rationalistic  subterfuges;  in  the 
margthal  note  on  ii^^  he  writes:  Man  will,  er  habe  sie  nicht  geopfert,  aber 
der  Text  steht  War  da  (Be.),  The  literal  interpretation  is  maintained  by  the 
Jesuit  commentator  Serarius,  as  well  as  by  Seb.  Schmid,  Pfeiffer,  al.;  while 
L.  Cappel  modified  it  by  the  hypothesis  that  the  necessary  impHcation  of  the 
vow  was,  that  if  the  first  living  thing  which  met  him  on  his  return  was  not 
sacrificable,  it  should  be  put  to  death  as  nnn,  and  that  this  was  the  fate  of  his 
daughter.!  The  interpretation  which  resolves  the  sacrifice  into  a  "  spiritual 
burnt  offering"  has  found  expositors  in  modern  times  in  Hengstenberg, 
Reinke,  Auberlen,  Cass.,  Kohler,  Konig  {Hauptproblerne,  p.  74  f.),  al.;  see  Be. 
ad  loc.  On  the  other  side  are  Vatke,  Stud.,  Ew.,  Hitz.,  Oehler,  Diestel, 
H.  Schultz,  Reuss,  Nold.,  Kue.,  We,,  Sta.,  Baudissin,  Kitt.,  WRSmith,  al.— 
A  parallel  from  classical  legend  is  the  story  of  Idomeneus  told  by  Servius  on 
Aeneid,  xi.  264:  J  Idomeneus  rex  Cretensium  fuit;  qui,  cum  tempestate  labo- 
raret,  vovit  se  saerificaturum  Neptuno  de  re,  quae  ei  primo  occurrisset,  si 
reversus  fuisset;   sed  casu  cum  ei  filius  primus  occurrisset,  quem  cum,  ut  alii 


*  The  texts  of  the  Fathers  are  collected  and  commented  on  by  Reinke,  op.  cit. 
t  T)e  veto  Jephtac,  1683;  reprinted  in  Crit.  sacri,  on  Jud.  ii^'-*. 
X  Repeated  with  slight  variations  on  Aen.,  iii.  121. 


XII.  1-7  305 

dicunt,  immolasset,  ut  alii,  immolarc  voluisset,  oh  crudelitatem  regno  a  civibus 
pulsus  est.  The  story  of  Iphigeneia  suggests  itself  to  every  one.*  The  annual 
lamentation  of  the  women  of  Gilead  for  Jephthah's  daughter  appears  to 
belong  to  a  class  of  ceremonies,  the  original  significance  of  which,  often 
disguised  by  the  myth,  is  mourning  for  the  death  of  a  god.f  and  in  many  of 
which  evidence  of  primitive  connexion  with  human  sacrifices  survives.  In 
the  last  respect  the  parallel  with  Iphigeneia  is  instructive;  for  Iphigeneia  was 
originally  a  name  of  Artemis  Tauropolos,  at  whose  festival  at  Brauron,  and 
afterwards  at  Athens,  a  human  sacrifice  was  enacted,  even  to  the  point  of 
causing  the  blood  to  spirt  from  the  victim's  throat  under  the  sacrificial  knife.  % 
At  Laodicea  on  the  Phoenician  coast,  the  annual  sacrifice  of  a  stag  was 
regarded  as  a  substitute  for  the  more  ancient  sacrifice  of  a  maiden.  §  The 
native  goddess  to  whom  the  offering  was  made  is  identified  by  Pausanias 
(iii.  1 6,  8),  doubtless  on  this  account,  with  the  Brauronian  Artemis.  There 
seems  no  good  reason  why  we  should  not  include  the  mourning  for  Jephthah's 
daughter  in  this  class.  As  in  the  case  of  Iphigeneia,  the  original  significance 
of  the  myth  has  been  entirely  lost  in  its  translation  into  heroic  legend.  The 
presence  of  this  primitive  mythical  element  in  the  story  of  Jephthah's  daughter 
does  not  strictly  exclude  the  possibihty  that  Jephthah  himself  and  his  victory 
over  the  Ammonites,  and  even  the  sacrifice  of  his  daughter,  may  be  historical. 
The  latter,  indeed,  would  give  the  simplest  explanation  of  the  way  in  which 
the  myth  was  translated  into  legend, 

XII.  1-7.  Jephthah  is  assailed  by  the  Ephraimites ;  he 
defeats   them    in    battle    and   cuts    off   their    retreat. —  The 

Ephraimites  cross  the  Jordan,  threatening  dire  v^engeance  upon 
Jephthah  because  they  were  not  called  to  join  in  the  war  against 
the  Ammonites  (v.^).  Jephthah  rephes  that  the  Gileadites  in 
their  contest  with  Ammon  had  sought  the  aid  of  Ephraim  in 
vain ;  seeing  that  there  was  no  help  to  be  got  from  them,  they  had 
hazarded  unsupported  an  invasion  of  Ammon;  why  should  the 
Ephraimites  now  attack  them?  (v.-'^).  He  assembles  his  tribes- 
men and  defeats  Ephraim.  The  fugitives  are  intercq^tcd  in  their 
flight  at  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  and,  being  betrayed  by  a  peculi- 
arity of  their  speech,  are  slaughtered  on  the  spot  (v/"'').    Jephthah, 

*  Especially  in  that  form  of  the  legend  in  which  Artemis  demands  Iphigeneia 
as  a  victim  in  fulfilment  of  her  father's  vow,  made  in  the  year  of  her  birth,  to  sac- 
rifice the  fairest  tiling  that  the  year  should  bring  forth  (Eurip.,  //>A{^.  Taur.  i8  fT.), 

t  Or  for  the  abduction  of  the  deity  (Kore). 

X  Eurip.,  Iphig.  Taur.  1449  fT.,  esp,  1458-1461 ;  see  Robert- Preller,  Griechische 
Mytholc^ic^,  p.  312  f. ;  Stoll,  in  Roscher,  ii,  p.  304  f, 

^  Porphyry,  de  abstin.,  ii.  56;  see  W,  R.  Smith,  Religion  0/  the  Semites,  p.  447  f. 
X 


306  JUDGES 

after  judging  Israel  six  years,   dies  and  is  buried  somewhere  in 
Gilead. 

Wellhausen  regards  12^'*'  as  secondary:*  it  comes  too  late, 
since  in  1 1'^  Jephthah  is  already  at  home,  and  according  to  1 1^^  at 
least  two  months  have  elapsed;  the  answer,  12-,  affirming  that  the 
help  of  Ephraim  had  been  sought  and  refused,  does  not  accord 
with  ch.  11;  the  whole  conduct  of  the  Ephraimites,  who  had  no 
business  on  that  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  were  not,  as  in  S^-% 
inflated  by  victory,  is  here  without  motive.  The  story  is  a  mere 
copy  of  S^'^,  "  originating  with  some  one  who  did  not  comprehend 
Gideon's  conciliatory  course,  and  wanted  to  give  the  arrogant 
tribe  a  slap."  That  Jephthah  had  returned  and  dismissed  his 
forces  is  assumed  by  12"*  also.  The  two  months  (ii'^'^)  make  no 
real  difficulty  :  even  if  the  Ephraimite  invasion  fell  in  that  period, 
the  writer  would  finish  the  story  of  Jephthah's  vow  before  relating 
it.  The  resemblance  to  S^'^  is  obvious ;  but  it  is  not  evident  that 
1 2^"^  is  a  mere  copy  of  8^'^,  with  a  variation  animated  by  dislike  of 
Ephraim. t  The  genuineness  and  historical  character  of  the 
verses  are  rightly  defended  by  Kuenen,  Budde,  Cornill,  and 
Kittel.  The  shibboleth  scene  is  too  original  to  be  attributed  to  a 
**  tendency  "  fiction,  especially  as  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
supposed  tendency.  The  exaggerated  number  of  the  slain  is  of 
itself  no  reason  for  rejecting  the  whole  story. 

1.  —  The  Ephraimites  were  called  out  and  crossed  to  Zapho7i\ 
Zaphon  lay  in  the  Jordan  valley,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river, 
near  Succoth  (Jos.  13^) ;  according  to  a  passage  in  the  Jerusalem 
Talmud,  it  was  the  later  'Amatho,  Amathiis,  the  modern  Amateh, 
a  little  north  of  the  Zerqa  (Jabbok),  at  the  mouth  of  Wady  er- 
Rugeib  ;  see  on  8^  %  Others,  passed  northward,  §  which  is  unin- 
telligible. —  Without  calling  us  to  go  with  thee']  8\  —  We  will  burn 
thy  house  over  thee]  i  K.  16^*  cf.  Jud.  (f^  \^^  15^.  —  2.  /  and  my 
people  were  engaged  in  a  contest,  and  the  Anii7ionites  oppressed  us 

*  Comp.,  p.  229;  so  also  Sta.,  G  VI.  i.  p.  68. 

t  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  72  n.,  on  the  contrar)',  thinks  8i-3  an  imitation  of  12I-6 ;  see 
above,  p.  216. 

X  So  Stud.,  Ew.,  Ke.,  Cass.,  al.  On  Amathus  see  Euseb.,  OS"^.  21975;  Reland, 
Palaestina,  p.  308,  559  f. ;  Burckhardt,  Syria,  p.  346. 

V  So  the  ancient  versiyns ;  older  con:>n)efttators ;  Be.,  al.  mu. 


XII.  1-4  30/ 

sorely^  so  (S  ;  in  |i]  the  second  verb  has  been  acci(lcnl:illy  dropped  ; 
see  crit.  note.  — I  called  upon  yoji,  but  you  did  not  deliver  me  Jrotn 
them~\  Jephthah  speaks,  not  in  his  own  name,  but  in  that  of  his 
people,  Gilead,  to  which  the  pronouns  refer;  cf.  ii'*-^-''.  No  such 
request  is  narrated  in  ch.  ii,  but  the  narrative  there  certainly 
does  not  exclude  it.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  to  get  help  from 
their  stronger  neighbours  across  the  Jordan  may  very  well  be  sup- 
posed to  have  preceded  the  mission  of  the  elders  of  Gilead  to 
recall  Jephthah,  with  whif^h  the  story  of  Jephthah  begins.  There 
was  no  occasion  for  mentioning  such  an  attempt  in  that  connexion. 

—  3.  And  when  I  saw  that  thou  wouldst  not  deliver,  I  took  tny 
life  in  my  hand~\  i  S.  19"'  28-';  cf.  Jud.  9^'.  —  4.  So  Jephthah 
collected  all  the  men  of  Gilead']  they  had  returned  to  their 
homes  after  the  defeat  of  the  Ammonites ;  the  threatening  move 
of  Ephraim,  therefore,  did  not  follow  at  once  upon  Jephthah's 
victory.    It  is  otherwise  in  8\  where  the  whole  situation  is  different. 

—  And  the  men  of  Gilead  beat  Ephraim]  the  rest  of  the  verse 
is  wholly  unintelligible.  The  current  interpretation  is  fairly  rep- 
resented by  RV. :  "  Because  they  (the  Ephraimites)  said,  Ye  are 
fugitives  of  Ephraim,  ye  Gileadites,  in  the  midst  of  Ephraim,  and 
in  the  midst  of  Manasseh."  *  They  were  not  a  tribe,  but  a  crew  of 
runagate  Ephraimites ;  they  had  no  tribal  lands  of  their  own,  but 
lived  by  sufferance  in  the  territories  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh. 
This  insult  so  exasperated  the  Gileadites  that  they  followed  up 
their  victory  with  signal  vindictiveness.f  Neither  the  language 
nor  the  facts,  however,  allow  this  interpretation.  The  word 
TtnAtxQ^  fugitive  does  not  mean  runagate,  but  survivor,  one  who 
escapes  from  a  disastrous  battle  or  the  like  peril,  as  in  v."' ;  nor 
had  the  extraction  or  the  situation  of  Jephthah's  countrymen  any 
resemblance  to  that  with  which  they  are  supposed  to  be  taunted. 
The  origin  of  the  corruption"  Was  the  accidental  repetition  of  a 
clause  from  v.^.  % 

1.  njioi-  -(3>*m]  ace.  of  place  to  which,  after  -^2;;  cf.  ii^^.  Cf.  |vdx  Gen.46'^ 
jiDi-  Nu.  26IS,  son  (clan)  of  Gad.  Oapvlmo  g  j.  take  njicx  as  a  proper  name 
(Se^eim,  &c.).  ©^^  'ASe  ds  ^oppav.  —  2.  \n^^n  an  C'>n]  party  to  a  contro- 
versy, quarrel;   whether  the  one  assailed  (Jer.  i$^^)  or  the  assailant  (Is.  41" 

*  So,  virtually,  TL,  al.  mu. 

t  So,  e^.,  Ew.,  G  VI.  ii.  p.  455 ;  Be,  Kc,  Cass.,  Octtli ;  cf.  Ki.         I  Wc. 


308  JUDGES 

Job  31^^).  —  "iND  ]^'D';  ^J3i]  might  perhaps  he  explained  as  concomitant  object. 
(i^Ai'VLMNO  g  p  Kul  oi  viol  AfMfxojv  iTairelvovv  fie  a<p68pa  =  nND  •'II jy  pD>*  ^:2^;  the 
verb  might  easily  be  omitted  by  a  scribe  after  |id;'.  So  Semler,  Doom,,  Bu. 
—  a^PN  p"TNi]  pyr  c.  ace, 'call  one,' Neh.  g^^;  the  construction  is  however 
so  unusual  that  it  is  probably  better,  with  &  (except  ^),  to  read  DD"'^n;  or  to 
pronounce  piVvSi  (Hiph.),  /  iried  to  call  you  out.  —  3.  nnitCNi]  Ven^.,  Norzi, 
Baer;  cf.  JHMich.  The  form  nDt:>"iNi  in  the  received  text  (Ven^.)  is  probably 
a  mere  blunder.  —  4.  'Ji  ans  ansx  it3'»'?i3  nON  "id]  in  0  the  second  half-verse  is 
asterisked,  as  a  hexaplar  addition  to  the  LXX,*  and  the  entire  half-verse  is 
lacking  in  (g-^sot'o^  'p^g  other  codd.  of  the  same  recension  (M,  codd.^^^^^^ioe 
J08128134')  omit  from  nnx  ^d  to  the  end  of  the  verse.  The  words  ■'lO'-Sd  iidn  •'3 
□nsN  were  copied  out  of  place  from  v.^;  nnx  was  necessarily  added  to  com- 
plete the  structure  of  the  clause.  The  origin  of  the  rest  of  v.'*^  is  not  so 
obvious :  the  asyndeton  ni"'ja  lino  ancx  1"in3  suggests  that  the  "latter  is  a 
correction  of  the  unintelligible,  in  the  midst  of  Ephraim, 

5.  The  Gileadites  seize  the  fords  of  the  Jordan  to  cut  off  the 
flight  of  the  routed  foe ;  3^  f^.  —  And  when  the  fugitives  of 
Eph-aim  would  say,  Let  me  cross^  those  who  escaped  from  the 
field  of  battle  tried  singly  to  shp  across  the  fords,  but  found 
them  occupied  by  the  enemy.  To  their  challenge,  Art  thou  an 
Ephraimite?  they  answered.  No;  but  fell  unsuspectingly  into 
the  trap  which  the  Gileadites  set  for  them.  —  6.  Then  say  shib- 
boleth, and  he  said  sibboletJi]  the  meaning  of  the  word  ('ear 
of  grain,'  Gen.  41^^-  &c. ;  or,  perhaps  more  probably,  *  flood'  in 
a  stream,  Ps.  6(f  Is.  27^- 1)  is  of  no  moment;  any  other  word 
beginning  with  sh  would  have  served  as  well.  %  So  in  the  Sicilian 
Vespers,  March  31,  1282,  the  French  were  made  to  betray  them- 
selves by  their  pronunciation  of  ceci  e  ciceri ;  those  who  pro- 
nounced c  as  in  French  (^sesi  e  siseri^  were  hewed  down  on  the 
spot.  §  When  the  revolt  against  the  French  in  Flanders  broke 
out,  May  25,  1302,  the  gates  were  seized,  and  no  one  allowed  to 
pass  who  could  not  utter  the  —  to  a  French  tongue  unpronounce- 
able—  scilt  ende  friend?  |j  —  And  did  not  p7'onounce  it  exactly 
right~\  Wi.fix.  He  did  not  succeed  in  getting  it  right.  Others 
explain,  did  not  take  heed,  pay  attention,  comparing  the  idiom, '  fix 

*  In  the  only  copy  of  g  which  is  known,  the  asterisk  is  wrongly  placed  before 
Ephraim  i'';  the  necessary  correction  is  made  by  Roerdam  and  Lagardc.  Probably 
it  originally  stood  after  the  Ephraim  2P\  cf.  cod.54  &c.  f  Ra.,  Ki.,  al. 

X  Ki.  supposes  that  they  actually  used  other  words ;  this  is  but  a  typical 
instance.  ^  Be.  Jj  Cass. 


XII.  5-7  309 

the  mind 'on  something.  —  Those  whose  tongues  thus  bewrayed 
them  were  cut  down  at  the  fords. —  There  fell  of  Ephrai)n  at  that 
time  forty- two  thousand  meii\  of.  3-""*.  In  the  battle  and  tlie  Ihglit ; 
the  numbers  are  doubdess  much  exaggerated,  cf.  8'". 

6.  The  LXX  understood  r'^ii'.y  to  be  a  password  or  countersign  (avvOrjfia,  see 
Schleusner,  s.v.) ;  this  interpretation  is  most  fully  expressed  in  (5^',  xal  (\cyov 
avToh  FJirare  drj  aOvd-q/xa  Kal  X^yovres  crvvOr^fia  ov  KarrjOOvvav  rod  \a\rj<Tai  otrui, 
K.T.e. ;  see  Thdt.,  who  is  guided  by  the  Syriac  to  the  correct  explanation.  ©^ 
'A,  al.  translate  crdxvs.  The  Greek  had  no  way  of  reproducing  the  distinction 
of  sounds  represented  by  v  and  D,  the  former  of  which  appeared  to  Roman  (and 
doubtless  to  Greek)  ears  peculiarly  barbarous;  see  Jerome,  de  nominibus  hehr. 
(iii.  15,  ed.  Vallarsi;  OS'^.  lOe).  What  the  peculiarity  of  the  Ephraimitcs' 
pronunciation  was,  we  can  of  course  not  know;  *  still  less  should  we  make 
this  verse  the  basis  of  extensive  inferences  about  Hebrew  dialects.  —  i^d""  nSi 
p  naiS]  is  referred  by  many  recent  comm.  to  the  idiom  'S  3^^  j-'jn  2  Chr.  12^* 
193  30I9  Ezra  7I0,  with  ellipsis  of  3S  (Stud.,  Ges.  Thes.,  al.),  but  the  phrase 
itself  does  not  seem  to  be  old,  and  the  alleged  examples  of  the  ellipsis  (i  S.  23'-^^ 
I  Chr.  282  2  Chr.  29^'')  may  be  better  explained  in  other  ways.  The  impf., 
which  must  be  taken  as  frequentative,  is  singular  in  the  series  of  narrative 
tenses.  Perhaps  we  should  emend  "^'y  n':';  in  that  case  we  should  render  T3 
thus,  i.e.  as  the  Gileadites  pronounced  it  to  them.  —  ton^:']  of  human  beings, 
I  K.  18^^  2  K.  lo''- 14  jer.  41'^  &c.;   often  of  human  sacrifices,  Ez.  23=''-^  Is.  57^ 

7.  And  Jephthah  judged  Israel  six  years,  and  he  died  and  ivas 
buj'ied^  the  formula  is  the  same  with  which  the  notice  of  each  of 
the  Minor  Judges  is  brought  to  a  close;  lo*-'*  i2^"-^*-^^  cf.  also 
15^.  Considerable  weight  has  been  laid  upon  this  fact  in  some 
theories  of  the  chronological  system  and  composition  of  the 
book ;  see  Introduction,  §  4,  7.!  In  the  notice  of  Jephthah's 
burial  place  there  is  evidently  some  corruption  of  the  text.  Jt? 
reads,  in  the.  cities  of  Gilead  (in  one  of  the  cities  of  Gilead,  \  is 
quite  impossible) ;  ^  and  5L  render,  ifi  his  city,  Gilead,  or,  in  his 
city  in  Gilead;  5>,  in  a  city  of  Gilead.  Studer  conj.,  ///  Mizpah  of 
Gilead  (11^),  Jephthah's  city  (ii"^). 

7.  n>''^J  nyn  "*3p"'l]  (S  iv  ry  trdXei  avTov  TdXaad  (^  iv  ir6\ei  avrov  iv 
Takaad)  3L  in  civitate  sua  Galaad.  Cf.  8^^  n->D>'3  n^>3.  Gilead,  however, 
is  not  a  city,  but  a  country.     Stud.  conj.  nySj  hdxd^  il^S;   this  may  perh.  find 


*  See  J.  Marquart,  7.A  TW.  viii.  1888.  p.  I5i-i55- 

t  See  Nold.,  Untersuchutigcn,  p.  190  ff.,  who  reckons  his  6  years  with  the  Minor 
Judges;  Kue.,  HCO^.  i.  \  18,  n.  7;  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  135;  Kitt..  (IdH.  i.  2. 
p_  12  f.  X  K'-.  I-^rus.,  EV.,  al.  mu. 


3IO  JUDGES 

some  support  in  ©^  iv  ttj  irdXcL  avrov  iv  2e0e  (al.  2e0)  Ta\aa5  *  (repre- 
senting a  Hebrew  text  in  which  the  D  of  noSD  was  already  lost,  not  mutilation 
in  Greek  of  Ma<T(r7](pa).  Perhaps  the  original  text  had  only  n''j;3  in  his  city  ; 
the  name  i;7Sj  might  easily  be  derived  from  ■'-i>''?jn  (of.  v.i^),  or  nijXD  from  ii^^; 
cf.  also  I  S.  28^.  A  literal  translation  of  |§,  in  the  cities  of  Gilead,  has  given 
rise  to  the  Midrash  that  Jephthah  died  by  inches,  by  the  sloughing  off  of  his 
limbs  (as  in  elephantiasis,  Axzh.  gud am),  which  were  buried  where  they  fell; 
Bereshith  rab.,  §  60. 

8-15.  The  Minor  Judges;  Ibzan,  Elon,  Abdon.  —  See  intro- 
duction to  IO^"'\ 

8-10.  Ibzan.  — 8.  And  fhef-e  Judged  Israel  after  htm^  cf.  io-\ 
"There  arose  after  him  and  judged  Israel."  Through  this  verse 
the  following  series  of  Minor  Judges  is  annexed  to  the  story  of 
Jephthah,  as  in  lo'  the  former  series  to  that  of  Abimelech.  This 
is  doubtless  the  work  of  the  late  editor  who  inserted  the  Minor 
Judges  in  the  book;  see  Introduction,  §  6. —  /dza?i  of  Beihlehem'\ 
probably  not  Bethlehem  in  Judah,t  but  Bethlehem  in  Zebulun 
(Jos.  19^^),  now  Beit  Lahm,  about  seven  miles  WNW.  of  Naza- 
reth, and  a  somewhat  less  distance  west  of  Saffiirieh.  %  The  other 
judges  of  this  group,  as  well  as  all  those  whose  stories  are  told  in 
the  preceding  chapters,  belong  to  Israel ;  apart  from  the  story  of 
Othniel,  Judah  first  appears  incidentally  in  the  story  of  Samson. 
The  name  Ibzan  occurs  nowhere  else.  —  9.  He  had  thirty  sons, 
and  he  sent  out  thirty  daughters'\  married  them  into  other  famihes. 
—  And  brought  in  from  outside  thirty  daughters  (as  wives)  for 
his  sons']  this  is  most  naturally  interpreted,  as  in  the  case  of  Jair 
(10''"*),  of  a  clan  with  numerous  branches  and  offshoots  and  many 
connexions  with  other  clans.  —  He  fudged  Israel  for  seven  years'] 
10^;  cf.  12'  15^°. 

11,  12.  Elon.  — The  standing  form  in  which  the  notices  of  the 
Minor  Judges  are  cast  appears  here  in  its  simplest  terms  ;  it  con- 
tains nothing  besides  the  name  of  the  judge,  his  origin,  burial 
place,  and  the  length  of  his  rule.     See  above,  p.  270.  —  EI071  the 

*  Fl.  Jos.,  V.  7,  12  ^S  270,  QaiTTeTOii  iv  rfj  auroO   narptSL    Se/Se'yj    (Lat.  Sebctki), 

t  Jewish  tradition;  Baba  bathra,  91a;   Yalqut  on  Jud.  3  (ii.  \  42)  ;  Ra.  (Ibzan  is 

the  same  as  Boaz). 

+  Seetzen,  Reisen,  ii.  p.  139;   Rob.,  BK"^.  iii.  p.  113;  Gu^-rin,  Galilee,  i.  p.  393  f.; 

S  WP.  Memoirs,  i,  p.  270. 


XTT.  .S-14  31 1 

Zebulonite  died,  and  ivas  hurled  at  Elon,  in  the  land  of  Zelmlun'] 
Elon  is  a  son  of  Zebulun,  Gen.  46'^  i.e.  a  Zcbulonite  clan,  Nu.  26-'". 
The  distinction  made  in  f-tt  between  the  name  of  the  hero  and 
that  of  his  burial  place  (seat  of  the  clan)  is  artificial ;  cf.  (5.* 
The  place  is  otherwise  unknown. 

13-15.  Abdon. — The  last  of  the  Minor  Judges  is  Abdon  ben 
Hillel,  of  Pirathon  in  Ephraim.  Pirathon  was  the  home  of  one 
of  David's  heroes,  Penaiah  the  Pirathonite ;  2  S.  23''"  i  Chr.  i  r'" 
27^^;  the  name  occurs  also  i  Mace.  9'''',  Fl.  Jos.  xiii.  i,  3  §  15,  in 
a  list  of  places  fortified  by  Bacchides.  It  is  generally  identified 
with  Ferata,  six  miles  WSW.  of  Nabulus  (Shechem),t  which 
Conder  and  others  take  for  Ophrah ;  see  on  6'^  —  According  to 
v.^^,  Pirathon  was  in  the  land  of  Ephraim,  in  the  hill-country  of 
the  Ainalekltes.  This  is  frequently  combined  with  5^*  (Ephraim, 
whose  root  is  in  Amalek),  and  the  presence  of  the  name  in  this 
part  of  Mt.  Ephraim  explained  by  supposing,  either  that  the 
region  was  an  older  seat  of  the  Amalekites,  from  which  they  had 
been  expelled  by  the  growing  power  of  the  Canaanites,  or  that  in 
the  early  part  of  the  period  of  the  judges  Amalekites  from  the 
south  had  intruded  into  this  part  of  the  highlands,  and  occupied 
it  long  enough  to  fasten  their  name  upon  it,  but  had  been  driven 
out  again  before  the  time  of  Saul.  %  Text  and  context  in  5^^  are, 
however,  much  too  obscure  to  shed  any  light  upon  this  verse. 
The  name  Abdon  is  found  in  the  genealogical  tables  of  the 
Chronicles,  in  Benjamin,  i  Chr.  8^,  83o  =  9^.§  If  Pirathon  be 
Ferata,  this  coincidence  must  be  regarded  as  accidental.  ||  P>ut 
Ferata  seems  to  be  too  far  north  for  the  Pharathon  of  i  Mace,  and 
Josephus;  and  perhaps  we  should  rather  be  guided  by  Chr.  to 
look  for  Pirathon  in  Benjamin.  Ewald  conjectured  that  for 
Bedan,  i  S.  12",  Abdon  should  be  restored  ;1[  but  the  more 
probable   correction  is  Barak**  — 14.    He  had  forty  sons  and 


*  See  Noldeke,  Untersuchungen,  p.  184. 

t  Eshtori  Parchi,  fol.  67a ;  Rob.,  BI^.  iii.  p.  134;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  ii.  p.  179  f. 

+  See  Ew.,  GVI.  i.  p.  359;   Noldeke,  Amalekiter,  p.  12;   BL.  i.  p.  112.     N.Hd. 
inclines  to  the  latter  hypothesis. 

\  It  is  also  the  name  of  a  tovvn  in  Asher,  Jos.  2i3"  i  Chr.  6"-« ;  read  so  also  in 
Jos.  1928.  II  Nold.  ^1  Crl'I.  ii.  p.  514;   N'ilJ-.  Untersuchungen,  p.  184. 

**  ©S,  Then.,  We.,  Dr.,  Klost.,  al. 


312  JUDGES 

thirty  grandsons,  who  rode  on  seventy  saddle  asses'^  an  evidence 
of  wealth  and  rank;  cf.  5^^  lo^  2  S.  16^  13^^;  see  on  lo^  The 
numerous  posterity  is  to  be  interpreted  as  in  the  case  of  Ibzan 
and  Jair ;  cf.  also  8^. 

8.  1X3 n]  compare  r^N,  a  town  in  Issachar,  Jos.  192O;  the  tradition  of  the 
name  is  however  insecure;  see  (g.  — 10.  |i'?nv]  so  also  in  v.^-;  with  both  •« 
and  I  (same  consonants  as  in  pS^xa).  So  MSS.  and  edd.,  and  so  0  already 
read  ('AiXw/a,  &c.).*  Baer  emends  twice  f^x  on  the  authority  of  Massora 
finalis  ''ii'^^;  but  on  this  Massora  see  Yxtns&ox^,  Massoretisches  W'drterbuch, 
265,  n.  6.  — 12.  jiS'-x]  cf.  pSs  and  r^S"'X  side  by  side,  Jos.  ip^S-^s  (jn  Dan; 
see  on  Jud.  i^^).  In  the  present  case  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the 
names  of  the  judge  and  of  the  town  were  originally  pronounced^  as  they  are 
written,  alike;   prob.  E15n,  Gen.  46^^  (Nold.,  Uniersuchmtgen,  184). 

XIII.-XVI.   The  adventures  of  Samson. 

LiTERATURE.f  —  A.  V.  Doominck,  "  De  Simsonsagen.  Kritische  studien  over 
Richteren  14-16,"  Th.  T.  xxviii.  1894,  p.  14-32. 

1.  Samson's  birth,  ch.  13.  —  The  Messenger  of  Yahweh  appears 
to  the  wife  of  Manoah  and  promises  her  a  son.  During  her 
pregnancy  she  shall  observe  a  strict  regimen,  for  her  son  shall  be 
a  devotee  from  birth  (i3^"0-  ^^  Manoah's  prayer,  the  Messenger 
reappears  and  repeats  his  injunctions  (v.^-^^).  He  ascends  to 
heaven  in  the  flames  of  the  sacrifice  (v."'^^) .  The  child  is  born, 
grows  up,  and  begins  to  be  possessed  by  the  spirit  of  Yahweh 

2.  Samson'' s  marriage  to  the  Tininathite,  and  what  came  of  it ; 
ch.  14, 15.  —  Samson  resolves  to  marry  the  daughter  of  a  Philistine 
of  Timnath  (iV"*).  On  one  of  his  visits  to  Timnath  he  encoun- 
ters a  lion  in  the  way,  and  kills  him  with  his  bare  hands.  Some 
time  after,  passing  that  way,  he  finds  the  carcass  occupied  by  a 
swarm  of  bees,  and  takes  the  honey  (v.^"^) .  At  his  wedding  he 
propounds  a  riddle  suggested  by  this  adventure  (v.^"'^^) ;  by  the 
aid  of  his  wife  the  answer  is  discovered  (v.^^"^^).  In  a  rage  he 
pays  the  forfeit,  and  rushes  away  without  consummating  the  mar- 
riage (v.^^'^).     When  his  anger  has  cooled  off  he  returns,  to  find 

♦  Cf.  IL  Ahialon. 

t  For  the  older  literature,  sec  Reuss,  GA  T.  ^  io6.  On  the  mythical  interpreta- 
tion see  below,  note  at  the  end  of  ch.  i6. 


Xlll.-XVI.  3,3 

that  his  bride  has  been  given  to  another  (15''').  He  avenges 
himself  by  letting  loose  foxes  with  fire  brands  tied  to  their  tails 
among  the  grain  fields  of  Timnath.  The  Philistines  burn  the 
woman  and  her  father  as  the  authors  of  the  mischief  (v.'*-'''). 
Samson  retaliates,  and  takes  refuge  in  a  rocky  fastness  of  Judah. 
The  men  of  Judah  deliver  him  bound  to  the  Philistines,  but  he 
breaks  the  ropes  and,  with  an  ass's  jaw-bone,  slays  a  thousand 
PhiUstines  (v/"^").     The  spring  in  Lehi  (v.'"^-'"). 

3.  Samson  carries  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  ;  16'"'.  —  Samson  visits 
a  harlot  at  Gaza.  The  PhiHstines  lie  in  wait  for  him,  but  m  the 
middle  of  the  night  he  arises,  pulls  up  the  posts  of  one  of  the  city 
gates,  and,  putting  gate,  posts,  and  bar  on  his  head,  carries  thern 
off  to  a  hill  near  Hebron. 

4.  Samson  and  Delilah;  id^^^.  —  Samson  loves  a  woman  of 
Sorek,  named  Delilah.  She  is  bribed  by  the  Philistines  to  find  out 
the  secret  of  his  marvellous  strength  (v.^*^).  Thrice  he  deceives 
her ;  but  at  last,  weary  of  her  importunity,  he  tells  her  the  truth 
(v.^"^^).  The  Philistines  secure  and  blind  him,  and  put  him  to 
grinding  at  a  hand-mill  in  prison  (v.^^--^).  At  a  great  feast  of 
Dagon  he  is  brought  into  the  temple  to  gratify  the  multitude. 
With  a  return  of  his  old  strength,  he  overthrows  the  principal 
pillars  which  support  the  roof,  and  brings  the  whole  temple  down 
in  ruins,  perishing  with  the  Philistines  (v.^^^) . 

The  adventures  of  Samson  differ  markedly  from  the  exploits  of 
the  judges  in  the  preceding  chapters  of  the  book.  Ehud,  Deborah 
and  Barak,  Gideon,  and  Jephthah  were  leaders,  who,  at  the  head 
of  their  tribesmen,  "turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens,"  and 
delivered  their  countrymen.  Samson  is  a  solitary  hero,  endowed 
with  prodigious  strength,  who  in  his  own  quarrel,  single-hantled, 
makes  havoc  among  the  Philistines,  but  in  no  way  appears  as  the 
champion  or  deliverer  of  Israel.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  he  should 
have  been  a  favourite  figure  of  Israelite  folk-story,  the  drastic 
humour  of  which  is  strongly  impressed  upon  the  narrative  of  his 
adventures ;  but  not  so  easy  to  see  what  place  he  has  in  the 
religious  pragmatism  of  the  Deuteronomic  Book  of  Judges,  or, 
indeed,  in  what  sense  he  can  be  called  a  judge  at  all.  Even  the 
external  connexion  with  the   book  is  of  the  slightest  character ; 


314  JUDGE  j; 

the  familiar  formulas  with  which  the  histories  of  the  judges  are 
introduced  and  concluded  are  here  at  their  lowest  terms  (13^  15-^^ 
16^^^).     In  the  narrative  itself  no  trace  of  D's  hand  is  detected.* 

The  three  principal  stories,  ch.  13,  14  f.,  16,  are  connected  by 
more  than  one  link,  and  probably  belonged  to  a  cycle  of  folk-tales 
long  before  they  assumed  a  literary  form.  Ch.  14  presupposes 
ch.  13,  and  the  catastrophe  in  ch.  16  turns  upon  the  loss  of  his 
sacred  locks ;  cf.  esp.  16^^  with  13^  The  stories  of  the  cycle  need 
not  all  be  of  equal  age  ;  it  is  not  improbable,  for  instance,  that  the 
tale  of  his  birth  in  ch.  13  is  of  later  origin  than  the  rest ;  t  but,  as 
we  have  them,  they  are  in  substance  and  form  so  similar  that  we 
must  attribute  them  to  the  same  writer.  J  In  ch.  13  and  14  a 
later  hand  has  made  some  additions  and  alterations,  by  which,  in 
ch.  14  particularly,  the  narrative  is  somewhat  confused,  nor  is  the 
text  in  other  parts  quite  intact ;  §  but  there  is  no  evidence  that 
the  redactor  had  more  than  one  original  source.  In  15^'  ^^^,  where 
this  might  be  suspected,  the  doublet  may  with  greater  probabiHty 
be  referred  to  the  folk-story  itself.  || 

Bohme  demonstrated  that  the  language  and  style  of  ch.  13  have 
a  strong  resemblance  to  J  in  the  Hexateuch ;  ^  and  to  this  source 
the  whole  group  of  stories  of  Samson  is  with  considerable  prob- 
ability ascribed  by  Budde.**  The  reasons  for  thinking  that  this  is 
the  case  lie  not  so  much  in  particular  expressions,  as  in  the  tone 
and  spirit  of  the  whole  narration.ft  Whether  from  J  or  not,  the 
chapters  undoubtedly  belong  to  the  oldest  stratum  of  the  book. 
The  taies  themselves,  which  are,  of  course,  much  older  than  the 

*  From  the  position  of  the  closing  formula,  1520^  Budde  and  Cornill  surmise 
that  D  omitted  ch,  16,  which  was  afterwards  restored  by  another  hand,  just  as  was 
done  in  the  case  of  Abimelech,  ch.  9.     See  above,  p.  234  f. 

t  Bu.,  Richt.  ti.  Sam.,  p.  131 ;  cf.  We.,  Prol^.,  p.  256  =  History  of  Israel,  1885, 
p.  245  ;  Doom.,  Th.  T.  1894,  p.  17.  t  We.,  Kue.,  Bu. 

§  On  the  text,  see  Doom. ;  Sta.,  ZA  TW.  iv.  1884,  p.  250  ff. ;  Bu. ;  Doom.,  Th  T. 
1894,  p.  14  ff. 

II  So  also  Bu.     On  the  attempts  to  analyze  the  story  see  Bu.,  p.  132  f. 

U  ZA  TW.  V.  1885,  p.  261  ff. 

♦*  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  132  f.  Against  this  opinion  see  Kue.,  HCO^.  i.  p.  355  f. ; 
Kitt.,  .Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1892,  p.  57  f. ;  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  16  f. ;  see  above  on  6Uff.,  p.  183  n. 
and  Introduction,  \  6. 

ft  Bruston  thinks  that  in  ch.  13  the  narrative  of  the  first  Jehovist  has  been 
worked  into  that  of  the  second  Elohist,  to  whom  all  the  rest  of  13-16  belong. 
(Bu.,  p.  134  n.) 


XTTI. 


3T5 


book,  are  almost  the  only  specimens  of  their  kind  that  have  been 
preserved;  and  they  give  us  a  glimpse  of  a  side  of  old  Israelite 
life  and  character  which  is  rarely  represented  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  scrapes  into  which  Samson's  weakness  for  women 
brought  him,  the  way  in  which  he  turned  the  tables  on  those  v/ho 
thought  they  had  got  the  best  of  him,  the  hard  knocks  he  dealt 
the  uncircumcised,  and  the  practical  jokes  he  played  on  them, 
must  have  made  these  stories  great  favourites  with  a  story-loving 
race,  such  as  all  the  Semites  are ;  and  the  rude  humour  which 
plays  through  them  all,  no  less  than  the  entire  absence  of  moral, 
proves  them  genuine  tales  of  the  people.  What  basis  of  fact  the 
stories  may  have,  is  not  easy  to  tell.  The  name  of  the  hero  and 
various  traits  of  the  story  seem  to  invite  a  mythical  explanation, 
and  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  resolve  the  whole  into  a 
solar  myth.  Other  parts  of  the  story,  however,  are  refractory,  and 
can  only  be  translated  as  myth  by  the  most  ingenious  arbitrariness. 
On  this  question  see  note  at  the  end  of  ch.  i6. 

XIII.  Samson's  birth.  —  1.  The  usual  introduction  by  the 
Deuteronomic  author  ;  see  on  3^-.  — 2.  There  was  a  certain  man 
of  Zorah,  of  the  clan  of  the  DaniteSy  whose  name  was  Alan  oak'] 
from  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  which  is  almost  always  named  with  it, 
came  the  Danites  who,  migrating  to  the  north,  established  them- 
selves at  the  sources  of  the  Jordan  (Laish-Dan),  18-  '^  ".  In  Jos. 
iq"*^  it  is  assigned  to  Dan  (on  its  border),  but  in  i^-^'^  to  Judah  ; 
it  was  fortified  by  Rehoboam  (2  Chr,  11  ^°).  It  is  the  modern 
village  of  Sur'ah,  on  the  northern  side  of  Wady  es-Surar,  opposite 
'Ain  Shems  (Beth-shemesh)  on  the  southern ;  see  on  i"".*  —  The 
clan  of  the  Danites~\  i8"-^^,  cf  17",  the  clan  of  Judah.  On  the 
original  settlements  of  Dan,  see  on  i**  2,5 .  ^^^  ^^  ^.^^  history  of 
the  tribe,  and  the  relation  between  the  story  of  Samson  and  that 
of  the  migration  of  the  Danites  (ch.  18),  see  on  I8^  Afanoah, 
only  in  this  and  the  following  chapter.  The  more  picturesque 
details  with  which  Josephus  embellishes  his  story  are  supplied  by 


*  Euseb.  {OS'^.  29329)  locates  it  ten  miles  from  Eleutheropolis  on  the  road  to 
Nicopolis.  It  was  recognized  by  Eshtori  Parchi  (fol,  69*)  ;  Rob.,  BK^.  iii.  p.  153, 
cf.  ii.  p.  12,  17  ;  Guerin,  Judi-e,  ii.  p.  15-17;  SVVl^.  Metnoirs,  iii.  p.  158  ;  Had-'.,  p.  163 ; 
see  map  of  the  territory  of  Dan,  DlJf^.  i.  p.  701,  and  cf.  above,  p.  53  f. 


3l6  JUDGES 

his  imagination.*  —  His  wife  was  bar?'en  ami  had  not  home 
children^  cf.  Gen.  ii'^'^.  So  the  mother  of  Samuel  (i  S.  i^),  and 
of  John  the  Baptist  (Luke  i')  ;  in  the  patriarchal  story,  Sarah, 
Rebekah,  Rachel.  The  child  of  a  long  unfruitful  marriage  is 
in  a  peculiar  sense  the  gift  of  God,  and  his  birth  portends  some 
greater  purpose  of  God  for  him. 

2.  Zorah  was  resettled  by  the  Golah  after  the  return  from  the  exile,  Neh. 
ii^^;  the  Manoahites  of  Zorah  (observe  the  preservation  of  the  name)  traced 
their  origin,  in  part  through  Shobal,  in  part  through  Salma,  to  Calebite  clans; 
I  Chr.  252-54,f_nnx  a^N  %-i>i]  i  S.  i^  2  S.  1810  Jud.  9^3;  see  We.,  TBS. 
p.  26,  34;  Dr.,  TBS.  p.  I;  and  especially  Roorda,  §  480  n.,  who  rightly 
discriminates  the  case  before  us  from  others  with  which  it  is  frequently 
confounded.  —  •'Jin  nnstt'o]  igs. u.  19  Q^y  the  side  of  t33iy  iS^-^^;  see  there); 
cf  mini  nnacD  17''  (in  Jos.  y^"^  n-nn>  -o  is  error  for  10:31^),  mV  no  nnDi;'D 
Zech.  12I3.  nnxja'D  is  properly  the  clan,  a  number  of  which  make  the  tribe; 
it  is  itself  composed  of  a  number  of  families  (ns  no),  i  S.  lo'^i  Jos.  7^*. 

3-7.    The  Messengper  of  Yahweh  announces  Samson's  birth. 

—  The  Messenger  of  Yahweh  appears  to  Manoah's  wife  and 
announces  the  birth  of  a  son.  During  pregnancy  she  shall  abstain 
from  wine  and  things  unclean ;  for  the  child  is  to  be  a  devotee 
from  the  womb,  no  razor  shall  ever  touch  his  head.  He  shall  be 
the  first  to  deliver  Israel  from  the  Phihstines  (v.^"^).  She  relates 
the  occurrence  and  the  words  of  the  Messenger  to  her  husband 
(v.^^),  —  The  whole  scene  strikingly  resembles  in  conception  and 
expression  the  visit  of  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh  to  Gideon  (6"^"), 
and  is  naturally  attributed  to  the  same  author.  |  The  story  has 
been  slightly  retouched  in  places  by  a  later  hand,  but  not  so  much 
changed  as  ch.  14.  § 

3.  The  Messenger  of  Yahweh^  see  on  2^  6^\  — Behold,  thou  art 
barren  and  hast  ?iot  borne']  v.^.  The  following  words,  and  thou 
shalt  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  by  their  awkward  anticipation  of 
v.'^%  and  by  the  different  grammatical  structure,  betray  themselves 
as  an  interpolation.  ||  — 4.    Be  careful,  and  do  7iot  drink  wine  and 

*  Antt.  V.  8,  1-3  §  275  ff. 

t  We,,  Comp.,  p.  231 ;  cf.  also  Be.  ad  loc.  We.  remarks  the  occurrence  of 
Manahath  ben  Shobal  in  the  Edomite  lists  also,  Gen.  36'-3. 

X  Stud.,  Buhme,  Bu.,  al. 

\  On  the  text  see  Bohmc,  'AA  TVV.  v.  1885,  p.  261  ff. ;  cf.  Bu.,  RUht.  u.  Sarn., 
p.  130-  II  Be.,  Bohme. 


XITI.  2-6  317 

intoxicating  drin/z]  Heb.  shekar :  Sicera  \^shckar\  Ilebraeo  ser- 
mone  omnis  potio  nuncupatur,  quae  inebriare  potest ;  sive  ilia  quae 
frumento  conficitur ;  sive  pomorum  succo  ;  aut  quum  favi  deco- 
quuntur  in  dulcem  et  barbaram  potionem,  aut  palmarum  fructus 
exprimuntur  in  liquorem,  coctisque  frugibus,  aqua  pinguior  cola- 
tur.*  When  named  with  wine,  as  it  often  is,  it  includes  all  other 
varieties  of  intoxicating  drink  ;  v.'-^"*  i  S.  i^'""'  Luke  i'"' ;  cf.  the  laws 
Lev.  10^  (priests),  Nu.  6^  (Nazirites).  See  DBK  i.  p.  812.  —  And 
.not  to  eat  anything  imckan']  v/".  The  flesh  of  tabooed  animal 
kinds,  carrion,  and  the  hke,  is  probably  meant.  The  consecrated 
child  must  be  kept  in  utero  from  defilement.  The  rules  for  the 
Nazirite,  Nu.  6^^-,  contain  no  special  prescription  on  this  head, 
which  was  covered  by  the  general  law  (Dt.  14  Lev.  11).  The 
Jewish  doctors,  observing  this,  make  unclean  here  equivalent  to 
prohibited  to  the  Nazirite  ;  that  is,  the  other  products  of  the  vine, 
Nu.  6^^-.t  —  Bohme  thinks  that  these  words  (and  the  correspond- 
ing clauses  in  v.'^- ")  are  the  addition  of  a  later  hand,  which  exag- 
gerates the  strictness  of  the  regimen.  As  this  is,  however,  not 
suggested  by  the  law  in  Nu.  6,  nor  by  any  other  example,  their 
genuineness  may  with  good  reason  be  maintained.  —  5.  Thoii  art 
with  child,  and  wilt  bear  a  son'\  Gen.  16'^  (J)  cf.  Is.  7'^  The 
present  is  taken  by  many  as  an  immediate  future,  thou  art  about 
to  conceive,  %  but  this  is  unnecessary,  and,  in  view  of  Gen.  16", 
less  probable. — A  razor  shall  not  be  used  on  his  hcad^,^  16'^ 
I  S.  i"  Nu.  6^  (different  expressions).  —  For  the  boy  shall  be  a 
devotee  from  the  wo?Jib']  vJ  16^^  cf.  i  S.  i^\  —  JIe  will  be  the  first 
to  deliver']  begin  to  deliver ;  the  verb  is  used  as  in  i  o^** :  Who  is 
the  man  who  will  be  first  to  fight  with  the  Ammonites.  The  words 
have  been  taken  to  imply  that  Samson  should  only  begin,  but  not 
complete,  the  work  of  deliverance,  §  and  Wellhausen  would  recog- 
nize an  allusion  to  Saul ;  ||  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  writer 
put  so  much  reflexion  into  the  word  begin;  cf.  13^''  16".  —  6.  ./ 
man  of  God  came  to  me]  v.'*  i  S.  2"^  <f  '  '  &c.  The  Messenger 
appeared  as  a  man;  his  words  showed  that  he  was  an  inspired 
man  ;  in  later  phrase,  a  prophet.  —  Bis  appearance  was  like  that 

*  Jerome,  ep.  ad  Nepotianum,  c,  ii  ( 0pp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  i.  264).     It  includes,  there- 
fore, beer,  cider,  mead,  date  wine.  cS:c.        t  Ra.,  al.        t  So  (PA  al.  1.  EV,  and  many. 
§  Ki.  20,  Schm.,  Drus.,  Rosenm.,  al.  ||  Coinp.,  p.  231. 


3i8  JUDGES 

of  the  Messenger  of  God,  very  awful~\  inspiring  awe  and  rever- 
ence, not  terror ;  see  Gen.  28^^  Ex.  34^"  &c.  —  7.  She  repeats  to 
Manoah  the  words  of  the  Messenger.  —  Frotn  the  womb  to  the 
day  of  his  death']  this  is  imphed,  though  not  expressed,  in  v.^ 

3.  p  mS""!  nnni]  (5^^  only  Kal  av\\ijix\pri  vl6v.  This  is  a  fragment  of  a 
different  translation  from  v.^- 7  (^^  yaarpl  exeis);  the  probable  inference  is 
that  the  LXX  did  not  originally  contain  the  words.  — 4.  noi:']  see  the  passages 
from  the  Talm.  and  Midrash  cited  by  Ki.  Lex.  s.v.;  also  Levy,  NHWb.  s.v. 
—  NCt2]  of  prohibited  animal  kinds,  Dt.  148- W- 19  Lev.  ii4-5.  7  &c_^  of  carrion 
(noTiO,  nSaj),  Lev.  22^  of.  Ex.  22^0,  —  5.  p  v\-h}y  nin  -[jn  o]  v.'^  Gen.  16I1. 
The  pronunciation  seems  to  be  a  compromise  between  ptcp.  and  perf.,  and  is 
perhaps  meant  to  hint  to  the  reader  that  the  ptcp.  (which  would  be  more 
usual  after  njn)  is  to  be  understood  in  a  future  sense  (perf.  consec.) ;  cf.  ^T. 
So  Ki.,  K6.  i.  p.  404-406.  The  author  prob.  intended  a  perf.  —  S;;  nS];^  xS  n-j'^Di 
itt'Nn]  1 61^  I  S.  i"^  cf.  Nu.  6^  itrxi  V;;  i^y-'  xS  -i;;n.  The  etymology  of  n-j^n 
(masc,  n.  b. !),  which  occurs  only  in  the  stories  of  Samson  and  Samuel,  is 
obscure.  —  nini  oviSn  nnj]  v."  16^";  a  religious  devotee.  In  ordinary  cases  the 
obligation  of  the  nazir  was  assumed  only  for  a  certain  period,  which  was 
terminated  by  a  sacrifice  of  his  hair  at  the  sanctuary,  Nu.  d^^.  In  the  light  of 
similar  practices  in  other  religions,  we  may  with  great  probability  infer  that 
this  sacrifice  was  the  original  content  of  the  vow.  From  the  moment  that  it 
was  assumed,  the  locks  were  consecrated  and  inviolable.*  They  were  not 
merely  the  outward  sign  of  the  wearer's  devotion,  but,  being  themselves 
sacred,  they  consecrated  him,  and  thus  brought  him  under  certain  incidental 
prohibitions  (taboos).  That  he  must  with  peculiar  pains  guard  against  pollu- 
tion by  contact  with  death,  is  intelhgible  without  further  explanation.  The 
Hebrew  nazir  had  also  to  abstain  from  wine  and  intoxicating  drinks,  and 
from  every  product  of  the  vine  (cf.  Jud.  13I*  Am.  t}^'^-  Nu.  63^);  compare  the 
abstinence  imposed  on  priests  during  their  service,  Ez.  44-1  Lev.  lo^.  In  the 
case  of  Samson  and  Samuel  the  obUgation  was  imposed  for  life  by  the  mother's 
consecration  of  the  unborn  child,  but  this  is  signalized  as  something  extraor- 
dinary, rather  than  the  oldest  form  of  the  Nazirate  (Ew.,  al.).t  Such  absti- 
nences have  nothing  to  do  with  morality.  The  commentators  who  have  to 
prove  Samson  a  blameless  judge  are  much  embarrassed  by  the  Philistine 
women.-     Ki.  (on  v.^)  imagines  that  he  must  have   converted  them.  — in: 

*  Cf,  Ez.4420.  On  similar  consecration  of  the  hair  see  Spencer,  De  legg.  ritual., 
iii.  diss.  i.  c.  6;  Goldziher,  "  Le  sacrifice  de  la  chevelure  chez  les  Arabes,"  RHR. 
xiv.  1886,  p.  49-52,  cf.  X.  p.  351  ff. 

t  On  the  Nazirate  and  similar  vows  see  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites, 
p.  306  ff,  (esp.  314  f.),  463  f. ;  cf.  Kinship  and  Marriage,  p.  152  ff . ;  Wellhausen, 
Reste  arabischen  Ileidentumes,  p.  118,  166  f. ;  Stade,  GVI.  i.  p.  479,  388  f. ;  Smend, 
Alttest.  Religionsgesch.,  p.  152  ff. ;  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archaologie,  ii.  p.  133  ff.  For  the 
older  literature  see  DB^.  s.v. 


XIII.  7-14  3^9 

cn'^N]  would  be  best  represented  by  a  compound  word  —  if  we  had  one like 

Gottge^veihter.  —  jtojn  p]  from  the  womb  on,  i.e.  from  his  birth;  y?  to  the  day 
of  his  death.  — 'x\  ^>mrh  ''n;Nv-nJ  of.  2  K.  10^2  Jud.  \f^  i6''''-si.  — 6.  ovn^wn  z^^\C\ 
the  particular  one  who  came;  idiomatic  use  of  the  article,  Ges.'-''  §  126,  4;  see 
above  on  y^^  S^*^.  —  D'-nSNn  yA^r<\  v.'*;  but  nin-«  -jn'^d  v.-^-  ^^-  ^>-  J"- 17. :»).  21.  ^f.  G'-''*. 
In  v.'5  we  might  fmd  a  motive  for  the  variation  (cf.  2  S.  I4''^'') ;  but  this  expla- 
nation would  not  extend  to  v.^.  More  probably  the  substitution  is  accidental, 
due  to  the  influence  of  the  adjacent  Din^Nn  tt'>N. 


8-23.  The  second  visit  of  the  Messenger.  —  The  Messcnj^'cr 
returns  at  Manoah's  request ;  the  woman  calls  her  husband,  and 
to  him  the  Messenger  repeats  his  former  prescriptions  (v.**-"). 
Manoah  invites  him  to  stay  and  eat  with  them,  but  he  declines, 
nor  will  he  disclose  his  name  (v. '''■'**).  Manoah  offers  a  kid  upon 
the  rock ;  as  the  flame  rises,  the  Messenger  ascends  in  it  to  the 
sky  (v.^''"-^).  Manoah  fears  death,  for  they  have  seen  a  god,  but 
his  wife  reassures  him ;  if  Yahweh  had  meant  to  destroy  them,  he 
would  not  have  accepted  their  sacrifice  nor  shown  them  such 
a  portent  (v.-^).  —  8.  Manoah  prays  that  the  Messenger  may 
come  again  and  show  them  what  they  shall  do  about  the 
boy  that  is  to  be  born,  how  they  shall  treat  him.  —  Manoah  be- 
sought Yahweh']  the  somewhat  unusual  verb  occurs  in  the  Hex- 
ateuch  only  in  J.  —  9.  And  God  hearkened  to  the  words  of 
Manoah]  God  twice  (as  in  v.*'),  instead  of  Yahweh  as  constantly 
in  what  follows  ;  perhaps  occasioned  in  all  cases  by  the  preceding, 
man  of  God.  There  is  no  reason  to  suspect  that  the  variation 
has  any  critical  significance ;  see  note  on  v.*'.  — 10.  The  woman 
calls  her  husband.  —  The  man  who  came  to  me  the  other  day  has 
appeared  to  vie]  lit.  on  the  day  (on  which  he  came).  The  Hebrew 
phrase  is  unusual ;  the  versions  generally  render,  on  that  day  ;  see 
note.  — 11.  Manoah  follows  her  to  the  field,  and  accosts  the 
stranger,  asking  whether  it  was  he  who  before  spoke  to  his  wife. — 
12.  Now,  ifivhat  thou  sayest  comes  true,  how  shall  the  boy  be 
brought  up,  and  what  shall  he  do]  what  is  the  rule  or  regimen 
prescribed  for  him,  and  what  shall  his  calling  be  ;  or,  perhaps,  his 
mode  of  hfe?  — 13,  14.  The  Messenger  does  not  answer  Manoah's 
question  further  than  to  repeat  his  injunctions  ;  the  mother  sliall 
do  exactly  as  she  has  been  told ;  she  shall  not  eat  any  product  of 
the  vine,  drink  wine  or  intoxicating  drink,  or  eat  anything  unclean. 


320  JUDGES 

Bohme  leaves  to  the  author  only  the  words,  wine  and  intoxicati::g 
drink  she  shall  not  drink  ;  the  rest  he  regards  as  editorial  amplifi- 
cation. In  regard  to  the  last  clause  (tabooed  foods),  see  above 
on  V.'*.  The  other  products  of  the  vine  are  expHcitly  forbidden, 
Nu.  6'^*"- ;  they  are  not  mentioned  above  in  v.'*  or  v/.  The  extension 
of  the  prohibition  to  everything  that  comes  from  the  vine  is  no 
evidence  of  later  date ;  the  taboo  doubtless  from  the  beginning 
included  the  vine  itself,  as  did  that  observed  by  the  Rechabites,* 
or  that  imposed  upon  the  Roman  Flamen  Dialis,  who  was  not 
allowed  even  to  walk  under  a  trelHsed  vine.f  Nor  is  it  conclusive 
against  the  genuineness  of  the  words  that  they  do  not  occur  in 
v."*'.  It  is  not  the  author's  manner  to  repeat  himself  with  such 
notarial  exactness  ;  cf.  the  last  clause  of  yJ  with  v.'*.  —  15.  Let  me 
press  thee  to  stay,  and  pi-epa^-e  before  thee  a  kid~\  pregnant  expres- 
sion, prepare  and  set  before  thee.  Compare  Gen.  i8^^-,  and  espe- 
cially the  story  of  Gideon,  6^'^-  — 16.  If  thou  press  me,  I  will  not 
rat  of  thy  meat;  and  if  thou  wilt  make  a  burnt  offering,  offer  it  to 
Vahweh']  the  Messenger  keeps  up  the  character  of  a  man  of  God 
(v.^) .  In  the  story  of  Gideon  the  Messenger  lets  him  bring  the 
food,  and  then  converts  it  into  an  offering.  In  the  patriarchal 
story.  Gen.  i8,  Yahweh  eats  the  meal  which  Abraham  prepares. 
Compared  with  this,  the  behaviour  of  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh  in 
the  stories  of  Gideon  and  Manoah  seems  to  represent  a  more 
advanced  stage  of  theological  reflexion.  We  must,  however, 
bear  in  mind  that  in  Israel,  as  elsewhere,  the  intercourse  of  God 
with  men  was  believed  to  have  been  more  intimate  and  natural  in 
the  remote  past ;  and  need  not,  therefore,  infer  that  Gen.  1 8  is 
older  than  Jud.  6  13.  —  J^or  Manoah  did  not  know  that  he  was 
the  Messenger  of  Yahweh~\  cf  Mark  9^^-.  This  cannot  be  the  rea- 
son for  the  Messenger's  reply,  |  but  for  Manoah's  invitation  v.^^**.  § 
The  words  would  then  naturally  stand  before  v.^^%  ||  and  Bohme 
accordii^ly  transposes  v.^"*  and  v.^^** :  Let  us  detain  thee  and  pre- 
pare before  thee  a  kid  ;  for  Manoah  did  not  know,  &c.  And  the 
Messenger  of  Yahweh  said  to  Manoah,  &c.     The  words  are,  how- 

*Jer.35fif.. 

t  Plut.,  Quaest.  Rom.,  112;  Aulus  Gellius,  x.  15,  13.  For  the  explanation  of  this 
prohibition  see  W,  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Seinites,  p.  465  f, ;  Frazer,  Golden 
Bough,  i.  p.  183  ff.  +  Schm.  ^  Ki.  j|  Cf.  Cler.,  Stud. 


XIIT.   14-18  321 

ever,  even  more  apposite  as  an  explanation  of  Manoah's  request 
to  know  the  name  of  his  visitor,  vJ'  :  What  is  thy  name,  that  when 
thy  word  comes  true  we  may  honour  thee  ;  for  Manoah  (Hd  not 
know  that  he  was  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh.  And  the  Messenger 
of  Yahweh  repHed,  &c.  In  any  case  the  clause  is  misplaced,  and 
this  dislocation  suggests  that  it  is  a  comment,  perhaps  originally  a 
marginal  gloss,  rather  than  part  of  the  original  narrative.*  — 
17.  What  is  thy  nauie,  that  when  thy  word  comes  true  we  may 
honour  thee']  cf.  v.^^  and  i  S.  9'"' :  The  man  is  held  in  honour ;  every- 
thing that  he  says  surely  comes  true.  Manoah  would  know  tlie 
name  of  the  man  of  God  (as  he  sui)poses  him  to  be),  that  he  may 
in  the  event  render  his  due  of  grateful  honour.  —  18.  IVhy  doest 
thou  inquire  about  my  name^  seeing  it  is  itieffatdc']  cf.  Gen.  32--*. 
The  name  is  incomprehensible ;  beyond  your  capacity  to  hear 
and  understand ;  cf.  Ps.  139^',  Knowledge  is  beyond  my  capacity; 
it  is  high  above  my  reach.  Not  that  the  name  itself  is  mysterious 
or  miraculous.  Bohme  regards  the  last  clause  as  a  gloss  ;  but  in  a 
gloss  we  should  doubtless  have  a  more  commonplace  phraseology. 

8.  nin^  Sn  nuo  nnyM]  in  the  Hexateuch  this  verb  occurs  only  in  J  (Gen, 
2521  &c.);  cf.  2  S.  21I*  2425.  —  ^jns  o]  sec  note  on  6^^.  —  ij^m]  adTise 
us;  give  us  a  tor  a  to  go  by.  —  iSi-'h]  ptcp.  Piml;  generally  explained  as 
rejection  of  D  prefornjative  (Ges.^^  §52  end);  more  properly  an  alternative 
form  of  the  ptcp.  without  m;  cf.  Arab,  qatul  and  tnaqtid  (01.  §  250  c\  Sta. 
§  617  b\  Lagarde,  Bildung  der  Nomina,  p.  63  f.).  See  in  general,  Ku.  i. " 
p.  433  f.  The  indication  of  w  by  1  to  avoid  ambiguity;  cf.  Jud.  18-^  Job  5". 
—  9.  noy  ]\s  na'iN  num  mt:^  njtt'V  nvii]  two  circumstantial  clauses,  she  being 
in  the  field,  and  her  husband  not  with  her.  —  10.  ]nni  ntt'xn  inrinij  the  first 
verb  is  a  modifier  of  the  second;  the  collocation  may  also  be  asyndetic;  cf.  9*** 
&c.  —  □'''B]  if  the  text  is  sound,  we  may  compare  the  idiomatic  uses  of  cio 
and  Di>n3,  We.,  TBS.  p.  36  n.  — 12.  T'nm  N3^  nny]  cf.  i  S.  (f'.  Fur  nnan 
(plur.)  very  many  codd.  and  edd.  of  fH  (De  Rossi)  with  (SILS  have  the 
sing.  "I"<2T;  in  v.^'  this  correction  is  made  in  the  margin  of  i,H.  The  discord 
in  number  between  the  verb  and  its  subject  is  not  impossible  in  Hebrew, 
see  Ges.-''  §  145,  7;  but  it  is  more  probable  that  the  plural  is  to  be  attrib- 
uted to  a  scribe;  see  further  on  v.^'^.  On  the  massoretic  authority  for  the 
plur.  see  Norzi.  — 14.    |"n  pj]  only  Nu.  6*.  — 15.    ^n1N  nj  n-^xyj]  the  word 

*  Stud,  ingeniously  justifies  the  position  of  the  clause  by  assuming  an  inten- 
tional ambiguity  in  Manoah's  invitation  :  We  will  set  before  thee  a  kill,  or,  wc  will 
offer  in  thy  presence  a  kid ;  and  finds  u  reference  to  this  alternative  sense  in  the 
disjunctive  reply  of  the  Messenger. 
V 


322  JUDGES 

generally  implies  forcible  restraint,  and  here  elegantly  expresses  the  urgency 
of  the  invitation  to  stay.  —  'Ji  y:D^  nc'^ui]  nc;',  dress  and  cook  an  animal, 
6^^  I  S.  25I8  Gen.  i8"-8  &c.  Possibly,  as  Stud,  thinks,  there  is  an  inten- 
tional ambiguity  in  the  phrase  here,  as  in  nnjD  6^^,  the  writer  meaning  to 
hint  at  the  sacrificial  sense.  —  16.  -[cnSa  Son  nS]  Prov.  9^.  More  usual  would 
be  partitive  p. — The  comment  of  Thdt.  on  the  response  of  the  Messenger  is: 
Tpo(p7]S,  (f>7]<rLv,  6i>  d^ofxaf  dvcrlav  01)  Sixof^^f-  rovro  ixhv  yhp  6eov,  iKeivo  d^ 
TTjs  avOpwirlvr)^  (pijaews  tdiov.  iyw  d^  ovre  cos  dvOpcoiros  XPVt^  Tpocprjs,  ovre  rrjv 
deiav  dpird^o}  ti/xtjv.  — 17'.  "IDS'  "'D]  as  the  question  is  really  about  a  person, 
who  he  is,  the  personal  interrogative  i?o  is  used  ad  sensum  ;  elsewhere  "ya^  nn 
Gen.  32''^^,  iD'^y  HD  Ex.  3^^,  grammatically  regular;  see  Ew.  §3250;.  —  "f'^^n] 
Qere  (with  ©3L5)  'y\T\  sing.,  which  many  codd.  and  edd.  have  in  the  text; 
see  De  Rossi.  The  same  correction  is  made  in  i  K.  8^6  iS^^  22^3  Jer.  15I6 
Ps.  119I47. 161  Ezra  lo^^.  Qchla  we-Ochla,'No.  131.  — 18.  "-nSd  Nim]  regularly 
formed  adj.  from  ii^^-,  pronounce  piVi:  the  margin  directs  that  it  be  read 
with  suppression  of  n,  pelt.  Cf.  the  fem.  nssSa  Ps.  139*^,  unnecessarily  altered 
by  the  Qere.  nSd  is  what  surpasses  human  power  or  comprehension,  and 
therefore  excites  wonder  and  admiration,  Is.  29^'^  9^  25I  Ex.  15II  Pss.;  see 
note  on  pnScj  61^.  %  renders  here,  cnaa  Nini,  which  is  of  importance  for 
the  interpretation  of  E'lflDn  Dir  in  the  Talmud,  &c. 

19.  Manoah  took  the  kid  and  the  cei-eal  oblation,  and  offered  it 
up  on  the  rock  to  Yahweh']  the  cereal  oblatio7i  {minhah)  is  probably 
added  here  and  in  v.^^  by  a  later  hand,  for  the  sake  of  liturgical 
correctness.*  Cf.  Gideon's  cakes  {massoth),  6^^'^\ — The  rock~\ 
6^  (different  word)/^  The  article  probably  indicates  that  it  was 
a  rock  customarily  used  for  the  purpose,  a  natural  monoHthic 
altar;  in  v.^*^  it  is  twice  called  the  altar ;  see  there.  —  The  rest  of 
the  verse  presents  serious  difficulties.  The  words,  while  Manoah 
and  his  wife  wei^e  looking  on,  which  recur  in  v.^  and  are  beyond 
doubt  original  there,  have  probably  been  introduced  in  v.^^  by  an 
accident  of  transcription.!  The  two  words  which  remain  defy 
every  attempt  to  construe  them  grammatically.  By  a  very  slight 
emendation  we  obtain,  he  offered  it  up  on  the  rock  to  Yahweh, 
who  worketh  wonderfully ;  %  cf.  Ex.  15^^  Ps.  77^*.  The  words 
would  then  refer,  not  to  the  portent  which  is  described  in  v.^",  but 
to  the  predicted  birth  of  a  son.  Such  a  special  ascription  to  the 
"wonder-working  Yahweh,"  by  which  the  sacrifice  bore  the  title  of 
the  occasion,  would  be  in  entire  accord  with  ancient  religion.  The 
words  have  none  of  the  marks  of  a  gloss  ;  the  expression  is  far  too 

*  Bohme.  f  Be.  %  ®^  ''^'  ^ 


XTTT.    19-2T  927 

characteristic  and  too  difficult.*  — 20.  As  the  flame  lucended  from 
the  altar  to  the  sky\  the  scene  so  closely  resembles  that  in  the 
story  of  Gideon  (6'-')  that  there  was  a  strong  temptation  to  sup- 
plement the  one  narrative  from  the  other,t  as  is  done  in  all  detail 
by  Josephus  here.  %  Kimchi,  for  example,  represents  the  fire  as 
coming  out  of  the  rock  and  devouring  the  offering.  §  Some 
modern  critics  have  suspected  that  something  of  this  purport 
originally  stood  in  the  place  of  the  corrupt  v.'-*^.  ||  But  the  stories, 
similar  as  they  are,  are  nowhere  exactly  alike  ;  they  are  variations 
of  the  same  theme,  such  as  popular  story-tellers  delight  in,  not  a 
pedantic  repetition  of  it.  In  ch.  6  Gideon  brings  out  food  to  his 
visitor,  who  bids  him  lay  it  on  the  rock,  and  then  himself  converts 
it  into  a  burnt  offering :  here  the  Messenger  declines  the  offered 
food,  but  suggests  a  sacrifice,  which  Manoah  accordingly  prepares 
and  offers  on  the  rock  (the  technical  word  implies  not  merely  the 
placing  of  the  victim  on  the  rock,  but  the  burning  it)  ;  there  is 
really  no  room  in  the  story  for  a  parallel  to  the  bringing  of  the  fire 
out  of  the  rock  in  ch.  6.  We  have  no  reason,  therefore,  to  think 
that  the  text  is  here  abridged. —  The  altar~\  twice  in  the  verse. 
Studer  finds  in  the  substitution  of  the  altar  for  the  rock  (v.^^) 
confirmation  of  the  suspicion  which,  on  other  grounds,  he  enter- 
tains of  the  whole  verse  ;  Bohme  supposes  that  the  altar  was  intro- 
duced by  a  later  hand  in  the  interest  of  liturgical  correctness,  and 
would  restore  in  both  instances,  the  rock.  The  possibility  that  the 
text  has  been  thus  altered  is  to  be  admitted  (cf.  i  S.  14'"'"  ■'■'') ;  but 
the  necessity  of  Bohme's  emendation  is  not  obvious.  The  kid 
was  offered  as  a  burnt  offering  on  the  rock,  which  therefore, 
whether  usually  or  on  this  occasion  only,  served  as  an  altar .f  Why 
the  author  may  not  in  the  sequel  have  spoken  of  it  under  the 
latter  name,  I  do  not  see.  Indeed,  one  might  perhaps  discover 
in  the  very  identification  evidence  of  a  primitive  time.  — The  Mes- 
senger ofYahweh  ascended  in  the  fla7ne  of  the  altar']  cf.  the  colour- 
less interpolation  in  6^\  end.  —  21.  And  the  Messenger  of  Yahweh 


*  Against  Be.,  Bohme. 

t  We  have  seen  reason  to  think  that  62ii>  is  an  interpolation  of  this  kind  from 
1320. 

X  Antt.  V.  8,  3  ^  283  f.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Josephus  does  not  narrate  Gideon's 
sacrifice  at  all.  ^  So  also  Schm.,  al.  1|  Stud.,  Be.  %  Be. 


324  JUDGES 

did  7iof  appear  again  to  Manoah  and  his  wife"]  not,  was  no  longer 
visible  to  them.  —  Tlien  Manoah  knew']  when  he  saw  him  ascend 
in  the  altar  flame ;  cf.  6^^,  Gideon  saw  that  he  was  the  Messenger 
of  Yahweh  when  he  brought  the  fire  out  of  the  rock.  Bohme 
regards  the  first  sentence  of  this  verse  as  an  editorial  addition ; 
v.-^''  should  follow  immediately  upon  v.^'' .  There  is,  however,  no 
manifest  motive  for  the  interpolation,  while  the  author  may  have 
thought  it  worth  while  to  say  that  the  Messenger,  who  had  visited 
them  twice,  did  not  return  again.  Probably,  if  we  had  been 
writing  the  story,  we  should  have  put  this  sentence  after  v.^;  but 
the  author  preferred  to  finish  what  he  had  to  say  about  the  Mes- 
senger at  this  point.  The  old  Hebrew  writers  did  not  always  have 
the  same  notions  about  good  style  that  are  entertained  by  modern 
critics.  —  22.  Manoah  is  greatly  alarmed.  —  We  shall  surely  die^ 
for  we  have  seen  a  god]  (P  ;  see  comm.  there.  The  word,  a  god^ 
conveys  too  much  to  us,  but  we  have  no  other  to  translate  it  by. 
The  Hebrew  elohini  is  used  for  any  superhuman  being ;  cf.  i  S. 
28^^,  where  the  witch  of  Endor  at  the  sight  of  Samuel's  ghost 
exclaims,  "  I  see  a  god  {elohim)  rising  from  the  earth."  —  23.  His 
wife  reassures  him.  —  Jf  it  had  been  Yahweh^ s  pleasure  to  kill  us, 
he  would  not  have  taken  a  burnt  offering  from  us]  the  words  and 
a  meal  offering  are,  as  in  v.^^,  probably  of  later  insertion.  By  what 
signs  the  acceptance  of  a  sacrifice  was  recognized,  we  do  not 
know.  —  And  would  not  have  showed  us  all  these  things ^  and 
would  not  now  have  a7inounced  to  us  such  a  thi?ig]  the  first  clause 
refers  to  the  appearance  of  the  Messenger  and  his  wonderful 
departure  ;  the  second  to  the  promise  ef  a  son  and  the  injunctions 
connected  with  it.  The  order  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that 
the  most  striking  sight,  the  ascent  of  the  Messenger  in  flame, 
connected  itself  with  the  sacrifice.  Bohme  attributes  both  clauses 
to  editorial  expansion.  This  appears  to  me  possible  as  regards 
the  first  (he  would  not  have  showed  us  all  these  things)  ;  but  I 
see  no  reason  to  doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  last  clause. 

19.  mxn  S]?]  621;  cf.  ySon  620  and  note  there.  —  niB';?'?  ^J*???"!]  cannot  by 
any  ingenuity  be  construed.*  The  conj.  nVvy;;S  n-'Sad  Nim  (Maur.)  gives  us, 
as  Stud,  rightly  observes,  a  second  circumstantial  clause,  which  will  not  fit  into 

*  Ewald's,  und  es  regt  sich  wunderbar,  is  wholly  inadmissible. 


XIII.    21-25  325 

the  context,  ©apvlmno  ^  g  ^^  ^^pi^  ^^  Oavfiaffrii  ttolovpti,  \  Domino  mira- 
bilia  facienti,  followed  l)y  !L  Domino,  qui  facit  mirahilia.  The  (Jreck 
translators  therefore  read,  mtr'^V  N^Sopn  nirr''?,  which  gives  a  satisfactory  struc- 
ture and  sense.  (5'^  (alone)  koX  dvriveyKev  .  . .  rep  Kvplif},  Kal  5tcxw/)i(T6j'  voiijcrai, 
which  represents  the  text  of  |Q,  and  agrees  literally  with  ST,  which  here  and  else- 
where renders  n-'Sdh  by  en::,  Pael  and  Aphel.  We  may  with  some  plausibility 
conj.  that  Stexwptcej'  is  the  translation  of  Aquila.  |i^  is  an  attempt  to  construe 
the  words  with  the  following  clause,  after  the  words  d-'NI  ipu'ni  nijoi  were 
accidentally  transferred  to  this  place  from  the  next  verse.  With  the  construc- 
tion mtt'pS  niSdh  cf.  Is.  29I*  N*?Di  n'^'Qn  nrn  oyn  pn  N">V£3nS  qor  >jjn  p*^,  2  Chr.  26** 
ijpnS  NiSsn  >D,  Joel  2^0  (God)  N^'?DnS  dodj;  ntt'ip.  It  is  a  "direct  causative 
Hiphil  "  (Konig's  term),  and  may  take  an  accusative  (nxy  Is.  28-'-^,  non  Ps.  ^i-'^, 
riDV  Dt.  28^9  &c.),  or  a  gerund  in  definition. — 20.  nDTon  V^jd]  S  interpreting 
as  Fl.  Jos.  and  many  others,  from  the  rock. — 21.  'j>  r|D>  nSi]  the  interpreta- 
tion, was  no  more  seen  by  them,  i.e.  disappeared  from  their  sight  (Ki.  2"), 
is  against  the  usage  of  this  idiomatic  phrase,  which  expresses  not  continuity, 
but  repetition;  cf.  Ex.  io28-29  i  S.  IS^^;  Gen.  812  Jud.  S^s  2  K.  6'»  &c.— 
nxnnS]  i  S.  321 ;  cf.  nip  Prov.  16IG,  nsi  Gen.  48",*  &c.  See  Ko.,  i.  p.  534  f.  — 
23.  n'^S  nS  .  .  .  I'pn  iS]  cf.  8'^  and  note  there. — 'Ji  iJN->n  nSi]  (5  t  fai  oyjc  di* 
i(})d}TL(Tev  17/ias,  cf.  v.^  /cat  (pwTLffdTio  ijfxds  (|Q  ''JT'l)  5  t  presumably  reading 
"in^n  and  translating  (as  in  the  other  places  cited)  by  pseudo-etymological 
connection  with  -\in.  The  reading  is  tempting;  we  might  conjecture  that  the 
corruption  which  made  ijNin  of  it  led  to  the  further  amplification  of  the  verse 
by  the  addition  of  what  now  seemed  lacking,  a  mention  of  the  words  spoken 
to  them.  —  np]  noza,  Just  now.  Kadws  [6]  Kaip6s  ©abl  .  lacking  in  (gi'VMNo 
I  3L;  sub  ast.  S.  The  word  is  difficult,  because  it  seems  to  oppose  the  hearing, 
as  recent,  to  the  seeing  and  the  sacrifice.  We  might  conj.  nny  -.3  (cf.  2i*'^),  but 
should  then  have  to  regard  this  as  the  original  beginning  of  the  apodosis  of 
^h,  and  all  that  intervenes  from  nph  xS  as  an  editorial  interpolation. 

24,  25.  Samson's  birth  and  childhood.  —  She  gave  him  the  name 
Sa77ison'\  no  etymology  or  explanation  of  the  name  is  suggested, 
nor  is  there  any  hint  of  its  significance  elsewhere  in  the  story. 
It  is  derived  from  shemesh,  '  sun,'  and  if  we  remember  that  Beth- 
shemesh,  just  across  the  valley  from  Manoah's  home,  was  sacred 
to  the  sun-god,  such  a  name  will  hardly  appear  unnatural  among 
these  Danites.  On  the  form  of  the  name  see  note,  and  on  the 
mythical  interpretation,  see  note  at  the  end  of  ch.  1 6.  —  25.  The 
spirit  of  Yahweh  first  stirred  him  up  at  Mahaneh  Dan  (Dan's 
Camp)  betwee7i  Zorah  and  Eshtaol^  as  the  text  now  stands,  we 


*  Perhaps  in  the  two  last  examples  we  should  pronounce  as  inf.  abs.  (Sta.), 
t  Except  BN.  X  Cf.  also  4  Reg.  iz''^  ij'-f?-  as. 


326  JUDGES 

must  suppose  that  there  he  first  had  one  of  those  fits  of  demonic 
rage  which  were  so  terrible  to  his  enemies.  The  occasion  and 
results  of  this  outbreak  are  not  related.  The  verse  cannot  be  the 
introduction  to  ch.  14 ;  we  should  rather  have  to  regard  it  as 
originally  the  introduction  to  a  lost  story  of  Samson's  first  exploit. 
The  topographical  notices,  however,  excite  suspicion.  The  home, 
or  at  least  the  family  burial-place,  of  Manoah  was  between  Zorah 
and  Eshtaol  (16^^);  Dan's  Ca?np,  on  the  other  hand,  was  at 
Kirjath-jearim  in  Judah,  on  the  western  side  of  that  town  (18^^). 
The  latter  statement,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  question,  is  indi- 
rectly confirmed  by  the  name  itself:  whatever  its  origin,  *Camp 
of  Dan '  is  a  much  more  natural  name  for  a  place  in  Judah 
than  for  one  in  the  midst  of  the  Danite  settlements  about  Zorah. 
This  consideration  weighs  against  the  hypothesis,  for  which  there 
is  no  support,  that  there  were  two  Camps  of  Dan,  one  at  Kirjath- 
jearim,  and  one  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol.*  It  is  possible  that 
neither  of  the  conflicting  topographical  notices  in  our  verse  is 
original,  and  that  the  author  wrote  simply.  The  boy  gi-ew  up,  and 
Yahweh  blessed  him  ;  and  the  spirit  of  Yahweh  began  to  stir  hi?n 
up,  disquiet  him.  Upon  this,  ch.  14  might  very  well  follow ;  cf. 
14*.  —  On  Zorah  see  above,  on  v.^;  on  Eshtaol,  see  on  i6^^ 

24.  p'^yctt']  Fl.  Jos.,  l(rxvpbv  5'  diroarifxaivei  rb  6vofji.a,  deriving  it  from  jDty 
(see  on  3^^) ;  similarly  E.  Meier,  f  Others  explain  it  as  an  intensive  formation 
from  DDty  {]WD^  for  DC'Dsy),  *  devastator,'  or  (giving  a  fictitious  "  primary  "  sense 
to  the  root)  *  mighty ';  so  Be^.,  Diestel,  Ke.,  Kohler,  al.  Ew.  (  G  VI.  ii.  p.  559) 
thought  it  possible  to  connect  the  name  with  tt'Ot:'  '  serve,'  '  the  servant '  sc.  of 
God,  i.e.  the  Nazirite.  These  are  all  efforts  of  misdirected  ingenuity  to  evade 
the  palpable  derivation  from  z^-ov  *sun';  J  cf.  "'C'lpc'  Ezra  4^^-,  mi"'  Jericho, 
from  n-\>  'moon,'  and  the  Palmyrene  n,  pr.  "'Hi"'  (Baethgen,  Beitr'dge,  p.  162), 
&c.  —  iDyaS  nin^  nn  Snni]  a;;i5  KaP;  Niph.,  Gen.  41^  Dan.  2^  Ps.  77^^  Hithp. 
Dan.  2^^;  cf.  ays.  The  sense  in  all  these  passages  is,  *  disquiet,  perturb  ';  the 
primary  meaning  is  uncertain. 

XIV.,  XV.  Samson's  marriage  and  its  consequences.  § — The 
story  is  of  one  fabric  throughout,  and  is  probably  derived  from  J, 

*  Be.     See  also  Schick,  ZDPV.  x.  p.  137,  with  Guthe's  note, 
t  Poet.  National-Literatur  d.  Hebr.,  p.  105 ;   Roskoff,  al.     Against  this  view  see 
Niildeke,  'ADMG.  xv.  p.  806  f.        %  OS'^.  1844a  3323.  Nold.,  Cass.,  We.,  MV.,  al.  mu. 
^  See  above,  p.  312  f. 


XTTT.  -5-XIV.  3  327 

but  a  good  many  additions  and  changes  have  been  made  by  later 
editors  or  scribes,  which  disturb  the  simple  and  natural  progress 
of  the  narrative.  One  of  the  most  misleading  of  these  alterations 
is  that  which  lets  Manoah  and  his  wife  accompany  Samson  to 
Timnath  (14^-^''),  with  the  insertion  of  the  words,  to  marry  her,  in 
v.^'' ;  the  journeyings  to  and  fro  thus  become  an  insoluble  puzzle. 
Confusion  has  also  been  introduced  by  (or  iti)  the  dates  in  v.'^''  ''", 
and  toward  the  close  of  ch.  14  an  accidental  corruption  of  the 
text  has  made  the  sequel  unintelligible.* 

Xry.  1-4.  Samson  announces  his  purpose  to  marry  a  Philis- 
tine woman  of  Timnath.  — 6'^;//^^y^;;  went  dimn  to  Timfiat/r\  from 
his  father's  home  at  Zorah  ( 13-).  Timnath  f  is  in  Jos.  19^''  allotted 
to  Dan ;  in  Jos.  15^"  it  is  set  down  as  a  frontier  town  of  Judah. 
According  to  Jud.  i**,  the  Danites  had  been  thrust  back  from  this 
region  by  the  Amorites.  In  the  Philistine  invasion,  Timnath  fell 
into  their  possession.  X  Early  in  the  history  of  the  kingdom,  no 
doubt,  it  was  incorporated  in  Judah  ;  but,  according  to  2  Chr.  28'', 
was  reconquered  by  the  Philistines  in  the  time  of  Ahaz  (736- 
728  B.C.).  It  still  bears  the  name  Tibnch,  and  lies  about  an  hour 
west  of 'Ain  Shems  (Beth-shemesh,  Har-heres,  1*''),  and  somewhat 
farther  southwest  of  Surah  (Zorah). §  — 2.  On  his  return  he  asks 
his  father  to  get  her  for  his  wife.  The  negotiations  for  a  bride 
were  the  business  of  the  bridegroom's  father;  cf.  Gen.  34^*^-  — 
3.  His  parents  object  to  his  marrying  a  Philistine ;  he  should  take 
a  wife  of  his  own  people.  Samson,  however,  persists.  —  His  father 
and  his  mo  the?-']  the  last  words  arc  probably  an  addition  to  the  orig- 
inal text  (conformation  to  v.^) ;  the  verb  in  Heb.  is  in  the  singu- 
lar ;  observe  also  ?ny  people,  and  the  sing,  in  Samson's  reply,  Get 
(thou)  her  for  me  ;  it  is  naturally  the  father  who  answers.  —  Are 
there  no  women  among  his  own  kinsmen  or  of  his  own  race,  that 
he  must  needs  go  take  a  Philistine  wife?  Cf  Gen.  24""'-  26'"'^-  28"^^'^'", 
—  The  uncircumcised  Fhilistifies~\  uncircumcised  is  an  opprobri- 
ous word  which  is  applied  almost  exclusively  to  the  Philistines 


•See  Stade,  ZATW.  iv.  1884,  p.  250  fiF.;    Budde,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  130  f. 
Doorninck,  "  De  Simsonsagen,"  Th.  T.  xxviii.  1894,  p.  14-32. 

t  Not  to  be  confounded  with  Timnath-heres,  2-'.  X  ^*"<'*  •'^bove,  p.  80  f. 

§  Rob.,  BR'^.  ii.  p.  17  ;  Guerin,  Judce,  ii.  p.  30  f. ;  6WR.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  417. 


328  JUDGES 

among  the  neighbours  of  Israel ;  cf.  1 5'»  i  S.  14^  i  f''- '"'  3 1^  2  S.  i^" ; 
see  Jer.  9^^-  ^.  Circumcision  seems  to  have  been  generally  prac- 
tised by  the  other  peoples  of  Palestine.*  On  the  Philistines,  see 
on  f.  —  For  she  suits  me\  vJ ;  lit.  is  right  in  my  eyes.  —  4.  In 
this  seeming  perversity  there  was  a  divine  purpose  of  which  his 
parents  were  not  aware ;  cf.  Gen.  24^.  —  For  he  (Yahweh)  was 
seeking  an  opportunity  of  the  Philistines']  an  opportunity  for 
Samson  to  do  them  a  mischief;  cf.  2  K.  5^  which  suggests  that 
the  rare  word  may  have  the  by-sense,  '  opportunity,  occasion  for  a 
fight.'  —  The  second  half- verse  is  superfluous  here,  and  is  very 
probably  an  editorial  addition  derived  from  i5";t  observe  the 
generalization,  over  Israel  (cf.  13^).  Doorninck  regards  the  whole 
verse  as  a  gloss,  introduced  by  some  one  who  felt  the  need  of 
some  such  explanation  of  the  marriage  of  an  inspired  man  and 
judge  of  Israel  with  a  heathen  woman.  The  words  seem  to  me, 
however,  to  be  perfectly  natural  in  the  context,  and  not  to  involve 
any  such  reflexion.  The  refusal  of  Samson's  father  to  get  the 
woman  for  him  as  a  wife  in  the  usual  way,  explains  how  he  came 
to  contract  an  exogamous  marriage.  This  was  the  origin  of  a 
succession  of  complications,  in  each  of  which  Samson  has  an 
injury  to  requite,  so  that  the  mischief  which  he  does  the  Philis- 
tines is  always  legitimate  retaliation  (cf.  esp.  15^) ;  he  always  has 
a  just  occasion.  And  it  is  in  entire  accord  with  the  religious 
character  of  the  folk-story  that  this  is  ascribed  to  the  purpose  of 
Yahweh. 

1.  nnjDna]  v.^;  cf.  nnjnn  ••DnD  v.^,  Jos.  19*^  The  name  of  the  place  was 
doubtless  njDn,  with  the  Canaanite  fern,  ending  which  we  find  in  numerous 
names  of  places.  |  In  Hebrew  it  appeared  to  be  construct,  and  there  was 
therefore  a  special  tendency  to  replace  it  by  the  accus.  nroon.  —  3.  iV  "\cx"''i 
IDN1  v3n]  observe  the  sg.  verb  (cf.  v.^*).  The  constr.  is  possible;  but  the 
discord  in  number  is  more  prob.  due  to  the  interpolation  of  iDN.  — ...  nuaa 
S331]  among;  cf.  nij3D  v.^-^;  a  good  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  2  comes 
to  its  so-called  partitive  sense  (13^^),  and  of  the  difference  between  it  and  p 
partitive,  3  representing  the  part  in  the  unity  of  the  whole,  p  as  separated 
from  it.  —  Thn]  16^1  (^-^-^^^  thy  kinsmen.  —  "iD^' '^D^i]  kv  iravrl  rcj;  Xay  aov 
©i-M  ^.   conformation  to  preceding.  —  4.    ^J5<n]  the  vb.  (Pi.)  Ex.  2ii3t  (Pu.) 

*  The  Shechemites,  Gen,  34,  are  an  exception. 

t  Bu.,  supposing,  further,  that  the  father's  refusal  has  been  omitted  by  the  editor. 
The  latter  also  seems  to  me  probable;  see  on  v.6.  %  Sta.,  p.  183. 


XIV.  3-4  329 

Ps.  9110  prov.  1221 1  (Ilithp.)  2  K.  57  (c.  c.  ^  pcrs.)'  The  primary  sense 
is  prob.  '  its  time,  the  right  time,  came,'  &c.  (of.  Arab.).  Hence  njNP  '  oppor- 
tunity, occasion.'  The  pronunciation  of  the  noun  is  anomalous;  cf.  notn  98^; 
see  01.  §  213  a;  Sta.  §  262.  The  same  word  appears  to  have  been  read  by 
the  Greek  translators  in  Prov.  18^  (Trpo^daeis  frjTct);  see  Cappel,  Crii.  sacr., 
ii.  p.  604  f.,  ed.  Vogel  and  Scharfenberg. 

It  is  not  explicitly  said  that  Manoah  adhered  to  his  position  and 
declined  to  abet  his  son  in  his  perverse  course,  but  it  is  distinctly 
enough  implied  in  v.'*%  and  to  be  inferred  with  certainty  from  v.'^-^ 
where  Samson  takes  the  business  into  his  own  hands,  as  well  as 
from  the  nature  of  the  marriage  which  he  contracts.  It  is  evi- 
dent there  that  he  has  no  intention  of  taking  his  bride  to  his 
father's  home,  as  he  proposes  in  v.^^;  it  is  understood  that  she  is 
to  remain  in  her  father's  house.*  That  is,  Manoah  having  refused 
to  receive  this  Philistine  daughter-in-law,  Samson  makes  a  smriqa 
marriage  in  Timnath,  with  which,  as  a  matter  of  course,  his  parents 
have  nothing  whatever  to  do. 

This  state  of  the  case  is  partly  obscured  in  the  text  before  us 
through  the  insertion  by  a  later  hand  of  the  words,  and  his  father 
and  mother  J  in  v.'^'',  with  the  corresponding  addition  of  v.*"'^,  and  of 
his  father  in  v.^*^"^,  by  which  it  is  made  to  appear  that  Manoah 
yielded  and  undertook  the  customary  negotiations  for  an  ordinary 
marriage.  The  motive  of  this  change  was  doubtless  the  difficulty 
which  men  in  subsequent  times  found  in  conceiving  that  the  hero, 
in  open  disregard  of  parental  authority,  contracted  such  a  marriage 
among  the  Philistines.  But,  as  is  fortunately  often  the  case,  the 
editor  did  not  carry  through  his  alterations  with  sufficient  thor- 
oughness, and  the  resulting  inconsistency  and  confusion  betrays  his 
hand.  Thus  v.^  is  left  untouched,  while  his  father,  as  the  subject 
of  v.^"*,  manifestly  comes  too  late.  And,  apart  from  this,  the  flict 
that  the  comrades  of  the  bridegroom  (v.")  are  not  Samson's  kins- 
men and  friends  from  Zorah,  but  Philistine  youths,  is  incontrover-  ^ 
tible  evidence  that  the  marriage  was  not  sanctioned  by  his  family,  t 

The  removal  of  these  interpolations  leaves  a  text  which  is  free 
from  all  difficulty,  a  plain  and  straightforward  narrative.  Manoah 
having  refused  his  aid  and  consent,  Samson  goes  by  himself  to 


*  This  is  not  merely  a  consequence  of  the  quarrel ;  see  esp.  v.i8  151. 
t  This  restoration  of  the  text  follows  Doom,  and  Sta. 


330  JUDGES 

Timnath  to  arrange  for  his  marriage  (v."'').  As  he  is  approaching 
the  town,  a  Hon  encounters  him ;  the  fury  comes  on,  and  he  kills 
it  with  his  bare  hands  (v.'') .  He  goes  on,  and  has  a  satisfactory 
interview  with  the  woman  (v/) .  After  some  time  spent  in  Tim- 
nath he  returns  to  Zorah ;  *  on  his  way  he  finds  the  honey  in  the 
carcase  of  the  Hon  and  takes  some  to  his  father  and  mother, 
without  telhng  them  where  he  got  it  (v.^^).  He  goes  down  again 
to  Timnath  for  his  wedding,  and  makes  a  feast  accordang  to  cus- 
tom, taking  thirty  young  Phihstines  as  comrades  (v.^*^^").  During 
the  festivities  he  propounds  his  riddle,  with  a  wager  that  they 
cannot  answer  it  before  the  seven  days  of  the  feast  are  over 
^^_i2-i4a^_  They  are,  unable  to  solve  it,  and  appeal  with  threats  to 
his  bride  to  beguile  him  of  his  secret  (v.^^^-  ^^) ;  she  finally  exhausts 
his  patience,  and  he  tells  her  (v.^*^^).  On  the  last  day,  before  he 
enters  the  bride  chamber,  they  triumphantly  declare  the  answer 
and  claim  the  forfeit  (v.^^).  In  a  rage,  he  rushes  off,  kills  thirty 
Ashkelonites,  and  pays  the  wager ;  f  then,  without  seeing  his  wife 
again,  he  returns  to  his  father's  house.  To  repair  this  disgrace, 
she  is  married  out  of  hand  to  his  best  man  (v.^''-^). 

The  story  is  admirably  told ;  and  the  text,  with  the  exception 
of  the  intentional  changes  which  have  been  discussed,  in  excellent 
preservation. 

5.  Samson  went  down  to  Timnath/^  the  chief  reasons  for  omit- 
ting the  words,  and  his  father  and  his  mother,  have  already  been 
given;  observe  also  that  when  the  lion  comes  roaring  to  meet 
him,  his  parents  are  not  with  him  (y.^^),  and  that  in  v/  there  is 
no  further  mention  of  his  father,  precisely  at  the  point  where  we 
should  expect  it  if  he  had  accompanied  his  son.  —  And  he  came 
to  the  vi7ieyards']  J^,  they  came,  \  necessitated  by  the  introduction 
of  his  father  and  his  mother  in  the  preceding  sentence.  —  A  full 
grown  young  lion  came  roaring  towards  him'\  to  explain  the 
singular  pronoun  the  commentators  are  constrained  to  suppose 
that  Samson,  in  his  eagerness,  had  outstripped  his  slower  parents,  § 
or  that  he  had  taken  a  by-path  through  the  vineyards,  while  they 


*  The  words,  to  marry  her,  are  a  particularly  ill-placed  gloss, 
t  This  also  is  probably  a  later  addition  ;    see  on  v.W. 
X  Cf.  ©U.  and  sec  crit.  note,  ^  Ki. 


XTV.   q-7  331 

followed  the  main  road   and   heard  nothing  of  his   adventure* 
—  6.    The  spirit  of  Yahwch  rushed  upon  hini\  with  overmastering 
power  j    an  access  of  divine   rage   in  which   he  was  irresistible ; 
of.  v.^^  15^   I    S.  lo''-^"  ii«  i8^*^  (Saul)  16'^  (Uavid);   with  other 
verbs  Jud.  3'"  6**  13'^.     On  the  spirit  of  Yahweh  see  on  3"^;  it  is 
here  conceived  of  as  a  physical  force. f  —  H<^  tore  it  asunder  as 
a  ma7i  tears  a  kid~\  the  verb  occurs  in  Lev.  i^^  in  an  old  ritual, 
of  the  tearing  of  a  fowl.      The  tearing  of  a  kid  may  perhaps  also 
be  a  reference  to  some  ceremonial  act ;  the  point  of  comparison 
is  not  so  much  the  ease  with  which  it  was  done,  as  the  way  in 
which  it  was  done  ;  he  tore  the  lion  Umb  from  limb  with  his  bare 
hands.  I     Compare  the  similar  stories  of  David  (i  S.  y-j^-^'')  and 
Benaiah  (2  S.  23=*).     So  the  Greek  athlete  Polydamas  is  said  to 
have  killed  a  large  and  powerful  lion  in  Olympus,  without  any 
weapon,  imitating  thus  the  famous  exploit  of  Hercules.  §     In  many 
representations  of  the  combat  of  Hercules  with  the  Nemean  lion, 
the  hero  is  strangling  the  beast  with  his  bare  hands.  ||  —  He  did  not 
tell  his  father  and  viother'\  the  words  are  an  interpolation  derived 
from  v.^*^  (cf.  v.^),  and  fit  into  the  story  very  ilLf— 7.   He  went 
down  and  spoke  to  the  woman,  and  she  suited  Samson']  lit.  was 
right  in  his  eyes  (v.^) .     It  was  Samson  who  went  down  and  spoke 
to  the  woman,  not  his  father,**  who  appears  very  much  belated 
on  this  errand  in  v.^" ;    see  comm.  there.      Bertheau  explains  : 
After  the  parents  had  arranged  the  marriage  (v.'*"),  and,  with 
Samson,  had  returned  to  Zorah,  he  used  to  go  down  and  talk 
to  the  maiden,  and  on  more  intimate  acquaintance  she  pleased 
him  well  (v.^).tt     This  is  perhaps  as  good  an  illustration  as  could 
be  given  of  the  absurdities  into  which  the  interpolations  lead  the 


*  Schm.,  Stud.,  Be.,  al.  mu. ;  cf.  v.8. 

t  Doom.  (  T/i.  T.  1894,  p.  16  f.)  regards  this  clause,  together  with  v.i^a  and  i5"«>a, 
as  foreign  to  the  original  text. 

+  As  a  matter  of  fact,  to  dismember  a  living  animal  in  this  way,  even  a  kid.  is 
not  very  easy ;  for  which  reason  Cler.  supposes  that  a  boiled  kid  is  meant. 

\  Pausanias,  vi.  5,  5. 

II  Sec  Baumeister,  Denkmalcr  des  klass.  Aitcrthmns,  i.  p.  655 ;  Furtwangler  m 
Roscher's  Lexikon,  2195  ff. 

H  See  above,  p.  329. 

*«  ©  harmonizes  :  they  went  down  and  spoke  to  the  woman.    Speak  for  the  woman 
would  be  '1  -i3-\  (i  S.  253^')- 

ft  All  just  like  a  properly  conducted  German  courtship  1 


332  JUDGES 

interpreter.  —  8.  And  he  went  back  after  a  while']  from  Timnath 
to   his   father's   house   at   Zorah.     So   the   context   imperatively 
requires.     In  v/  he  visits  Timnath  and  arranges  the  preUminaries 
of  his  marriage  ;  having  done  so,  in  the  interval  before  his  wedding, 
he  returns  to  his  home ;  by  the  way  he  finds  the  honey  in  the 
caacase  of  the  Hon  he  had  slain  as  he  went  down  to  Timnath ; 
goes  along  eating  it  on  his  way  to  his  parents'  home  (v.^^).     The 
order  of  events  is  plain  and  natural.     This  order  is  completely 
deranged  by  the  addition  in  our  text  of  the  words,  to  marry  her. 
We  have  to  suppose  that  after  his  visit  to  Timnath  (v.^),  Samson 
went  home,  leaving  his  parents  at  Timnath,  where  th'ey  are  (v.^) 
when  after  a  while  he  himself  returns  thither  (v.^).     But  in  v.^° 
his  father  conies  down,  and  we  have  therefore  to  assume  that,  after 
Samson's  return  to  Timnath,  Manoah  went  to  Zorah  and  returned 
again.     This  succession  of  purposeless  journeyings  to  and  fro  is 
not  intimated  i«  any  way  in  the  narrative  itself;  it  is  simply  a 
complicated  and  improbable  hypothesis  Hccessitated  by  the  words, 
to  marry  her,  in  v.^ ;   and  the  clumsiness  of  the  hypothesis  is  the 
strongest  evidence  that  these  words  do  not  belong  to  the  original 
story,*  —  And  he  turned  aside  to  see  the  remains  of  the  lion]  which 
lay  off  the  pathway,  in  the  vineyards  (v.^) .  —  There  was  a  swarm 
of  bees  in  the  carcase,  and  honey]  we  are  to  imagine  the  body 
dried  up,  the  skin  and  shrivelled  flesh  adhering  to  the  ribs,  the 
belly  hollow. t     In  a  hot  and  dry  climate  this  change  would  not 
take  a  great  while  ;  \  a  longer  time  would  be  necessary  for  bees  to 
take  possession  of  the   mummied  carcase,  and  deposit   honey. 
The  story,  however,  does  not  represent  Samson's  discovery  as  an 
every-day  occurrence  ;  it  is  part  of  a  wonderful  history,  and  to  be 
judged  not  by  the  prosaie  probabilities  of  fact,  but  by  the  veri- 
similitade  of  the  marvellous.     Bochart  adduces  from  Herodotus 
the  story  of  the  bees  that  made  a  hive  of  the  scull  of  Onesilus, 
which  the  people  of  Amathus  had  fastened  up  over  the  city  gate.  § 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  story  of  the  bees  in  the  carcase  of  the 
lion  is  further  to  be  connected  with  the  wide-spread  belief  of  the 
ancients  in  the  spontaneous  generation  of  these  insects  in  decaying 

*  Doom.,  Sta.  f  Not  merely  the  osseous  skeleton ;  Si,  Cler.,  al. 

X  Ocdmann,  Sammlungen  aus  d.  Naturkunde,  u.  s.  w.,  vi.  p.  135  f. 
^  Hdt.,  V.  114 ;  Bochart,  Hierozoicon,  iii.  p.  358,  ed.  Rosenm. 


XIV.  8-^  333 

bodies  of  animals,  familiar  to  us  through  Vergil.*  —  9.  He  scraped 
it  out  into  his  palms,  and  ivent  alom^  eating  it.  And  he  came  to  his 
father  and  his  mother']  at  his  home  ;  see  on  v.^  —  lie  did  not  tell 
them]  n}^"^. 

5.  ptTDty  in^i]  omit  icni  v3ni  for  the  reasons  sot  forth  al)ovc.t  —  in3mJ 
read  N3^i  with  (S^^  ^^j  ^\Q^v.  ©alm  ^^^  k^^Kkiv^v  els  dfiireXQva  J  (  =  ^^D>^  v.«) 
is  perhaps  an  early  attempt  to  explain  how  his  parents,  who  accordinK  to  v.» 
accompanied  him  to  Timnath,  knew  nothing  of  his  adventure,  ©I'vo  ^^^^\t. 
vav.  —  nvM<  -\^3d]  cf.  Ez.  i9"5-6.  The  n>DD  is  a  full-grown  young  lion,  in  the 
wantonness  of  his  superabounding  strength.  Sec  Bochart,  Ilicrozoicon,  ii. 
p.  3  ff.;  Tristram,  Natural  Hist,  of  the  Biblfi,  P-  "5  ff-  —  inNnpS  jn;:']  the 
specific  word  for  the  roaring  of  the  lion.  The  construction  is  pregnant;  cf. 
I  S.  i6't  2i2  Jud.  151-*  193.  — 6.  njn  i^Diro  ini'DC^i]  Lev.  i^^  kS  vcjaa  v^n  vofi 
Sna>;  trop.  i  S.  248  (ananj).  The  procedure  directed  in  Lev.  i^^  is  described 
as  a  rending  of  the  victim  by  hand,  without  actual  severance  of  the  parts;  see 
Ra.  ad  loc;  Sifra,  Wayyikra,  Parasha  7  (§9)  with  the  comm.;  Zebachim, 
65a.  b  66^.  — 'Ji  -i^jn  N^i]  interpolation;  see  above. §  —  8.  nnnpS  d^cd  3C'>i] 
Bochart,  following  RLbG.,  interprets,  after  a  year  (ii**^),  cf.  Selden,  Uxor 
Hebr.,  ii.  c.  8;  but  this  is  here  in  the  highest  degree  improbable.  —  nScc] 
from  Sflj,  as  irrtD/xa  from  TrlTrreiv,  cadaver  a  cadendo  (Ges.  Tkes.)  —  7y>-\i<]  on 
the  anomalous  form  see  01.  §  216  d.;  \\  cf.  nmN  (nN)  v.^.  —  9.  vsd  Sn  im-iM] 
m-i,  in  this  sense  not  elsewhere  in  O.T.,  is  freq.  in  MH.;  scrape,  e.g.  the  thin 
sheets  of  bread  from  the  sides  of  the  oven  (nuri),  or  honeycomb  from  the  sifles 
of  the  hive  (miiD)  ;  Levy,  NHWb.  iv.  p.  427  f.  For  the  latter,  cf.  M.  Shebiith, 
X.  7;  Baba  bathra,  66^';  Baba  mezia,  64*  (see  Ra.  on  the  last  passage);  cf. 
also  the  no7n.  instruvi.  m-\n,  Taanith,  25"*,  &c.  This  specific  sense  is  abun- 
dantly established.  That  it  does  not  occur  again  in  O.T.  is  not  strange;  it  is 
precisely  these  household  words  of  the  old  Hebrew  which  are  not  found  in  it 
unless  by  fortunate  exception.l"  There  is  no  reason  to  suspect  the  text  (SS.). 
The  etymologizing  interpretations,  *  break,  break  out '  (Mich.  Suppl.,  Ges. 
Thes.,  al.),  "  sich  bemachtigen  des  Honigs  "  (Be.  al.),  arc  worthless.  —  ViJ^  Sn] 
in  pregnant  coristr.,  'into  his  hands';  naturally,  with  a  stick  or  something  of 
the  kind.  The  considerable  variations  of  ©  are  apparently  derived  from  a 
Hebrew  copy  in  which  vsd  had  become  corrupted  to  vs.  —  Sbxi  "ii'^n  I'^-'i]  I'^n 
with  two  inff.  abss.,  Jos.  6«- ^3  i  S.  6^2  2  S.  3!^  2  K.  2"  &c.  — l^n  2°]  prob. 
through  the  influence  of  the  preceding  verbs;   n3m  would  be  more  natural. 


*  Georg.,  iv.  299  fF.  Many  other  authors  are  quoted  by  Bochart,  iii.  353  f.,  among 
them  Philo,  de  sacrificantibus,  Opp.  ed.  Mangey,  ii.  p.  255.  Other  lit.  is  cited  by 
Rosenm.  in  his  notes  on  Bochart,  and  Stud.  Merx,  "  Der  Honig  im  Cadaver  dcs 
Lowen,"  Frot.  Klrchenzeitung,  1887,  17.  col.  389-392,  I  have  not  seen. 

t  Doom.,  Sta.  J  ©M  i^TreAii'as.  \  Doom.,  St.-i. 

II  For  other  explanations  see  the  authors  cited  by  Buhl,  Ges.  HWb'^.  s.v. 

H  Abulw.,  Ki.  Lex.,  al.  refer  to  this  sense  Jer.  ^'^ ;  so  Buhl. 


334  JUDGES 

10-18.  The  wedding' ;  Samson's  riddle.  — 10.  He  went  down 
to  the  woman  and  made  a  feast  there']  *  J^  and  the  versions  :  His 
father  went  down  to  the  wo??tan  (/),  and  Samson  made  a  feast. 
This  introduction  of  the  father  here  has  a  pecuHarly  absurd  effect ; 
especially  after  the  other  gloss,  to  marry  her  (v.^)  ;  see  on  v.^  and 
v.*^.  —  For  so  bridegrooms  used  to  do]  on  such  occasions.  The 
note  is  manifestly  added  because  the  custom  of  the  narrator's 
time  was  different.  The  difference  lies  not  in  the  length  of  the 
festivities,!  but  in  the  fact  that  it  was  given  by  the  bridegroom  at 
the  home  of  the  bride's  parents,  instead  of  his  own,  which  was 
altogether  exceptional.  On  wedding  customs  see  note  on  v.^*^.— 
11.  And  he  took  thirty  comrades,  and  they  were  with  him]  these 
comrades  were  Philistines  (v.-^^),  and  took  the  place  of  the  kins- 
men and  friends  of  the  bridegroom,  who  in  an  ordinary  marriage 
would  have  attended  him  to  the  bride's  home,  and  thence  con- 
ducted the  couple  in  festive  procession  to  his  house.  So  the  story 
originally  ran,  as  we  see  especially  from  v.^^^,  where  it  is  clear  that 
they  were  invited  guests,  not  special  constables.  Through  misun- 
derstanding, or  possibly  to  remove  offence,  this  has  been  so 
changed  that  the  Philistines  themselves  select  these  comrades ; 
and  a  motive  for  this  unusual  course  is  discovered  in  their  appre- 
hension that  Samson  might  be  up  to  some  mischief.  Thus  has 
arisen  the  present  text,  which  runs  in  ^  :  And  when  they  saw 
hifn,  they  took  thirty  coiJirades ;  saw  what  a  dangerous-looking 
fellow  he  was.  Many  Greek  manuscripts,  representing  a  slightly 
different  pronunciation  of  the  Hebrew  word,  si^ice  they  fea^-ed 
hi??t ;  see  crit.  note.  — 12.  As  everywhere  in  the  world,  the 
wedding  festivities  were  enlivened  by  various  pleasantries  and 
plays  of  wit.  %  Samson  gives  out  a  riddle,  with  a  wager  that  the 
guests  cannot  answer  it  before  the  week  is  out.  —  If  you  can  tell 
me  what  it  is,  during  the  seven  days  of  the  feast,  §  and  find  it  out, 
/  will  give  you,  6^r.]  the  words,  and  find  it  out  (yourselves), 
which  are  lacking  in  several  recensions  of  (§,  are  a  gloss  taken 
from  v^^  as  the  inappropriate  position  of  the  words  in  J§  also 

*  Or,  And  Samson  went  down  (Sta.,  Doom.). 

t  Stud. 

X  On  riddles  at  feasts,  see  Bochart,  Hierozoicon,  iii.  p.  382  f.,  ed.  Rosenm. 

$  The  seven  days,  ef.  Gen.  29-''  Tob.  lil^;  Wellhausen,  GgN.  1893,  p.  442. 


XTV.   10-14  335 

shows.*  The  author  of  the  gloss  desired  an  express  proviso 
against  such  unfair  means  as  the  PhiHstines  took  to  learn  the 
secret.  —  TJm'ty  fine  linen  wrappers  and  thirty  gala  dresses']  one 
for  each  of  the  comrades.  The  linen  wrappers  (Is.  3-*  Prov.  2t^'^^  ) 
were  not  undergarments,!  but  rectangular  pieces  of  fine,  thin, 
and  therefore  costly,  linen  stuff,  which  might  be  worn  as  an  outer 
garment  over  the  other  dress,  or  as  a  night- wrapper  upon  the 
naked  body  ;  %  see  note.  —  Gala  dresses]  apparel  which  was  worn 
on  festival  or  ceremonial  occasions,  instead  of  the  cvery-day 
raiment  (v.^^-^^Gen.  45^2  2  K.  S*^).  — 13.  If  they  are  unable  to 
guess  the  riddle,  they  shall  pay  the  same  wager.  They  accept  the 
conditions  :  Propound  thy  riddle,  and  let  us  hear  it !  — 14.  Out 
of  the  eater  came  something  to  eat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came 
something  sweet]  the  adjectives  in  the  second  member  are 
descriptive  epithets,  respectively,  of  the  substantives  in  the  first, 
which  they  replace  in  poetic  parallelism.  It  is  unnecessary, 
therefore,  to  try  to  make  out  a  perfect  antithesis  between  the 
adjectives  independently ;  §  there  is  in  reality  but  one  antithesis, 
not  two.  —  They  could  not  tell  the  riddle]  it  was,  in  truth,  a  very  bad 
riddle,  and  quite  insoluble  without  a  knowledge  of  the  accidental 
circumstance  which  suggested  it.  The  following  dates  are  evi- 
dently not  in  order.  According  to  J^,  they  could  not  make  out 
the  riddle  for  three  days,  and  on  the  seventh  day  appealed  to 
Samson's  bride  to  learn  the  answer  for  them.  ||  (S  IT  and  %  have 
in  v.-'^,  the  fourth  day,  instead  of  the  seventh,  which  agrees  better 
with  V.".**  It  does  not  appear,  however,  why  they  should  give  up 
in  the  middle  of  the  week.  It  is  more  probable  that  the  error 
lies  in  the  other  number,  and  that  in  v.'^  we  should  restore,  for 
six  days.-\-\  The  story  would  then  run  naturally  :  They  cudgel 
their  brains  in  vain  for  six  days ;  on  the  seventh  and  last  day,  in 
despair  of  the  solution,  they  try  Samson's  wife.  Their  vehemence 
in  v.^^  is  better  motived  if  the  time  is  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close 
than  if  they  addressed  themselves  to  her  several  days  sooner.     A 


*  Sta.,  Doom.  t  Lth.,  Cler.,  Schroeder,  Ges.,  MV.,  SS.,  al, 

t  Talmud,  Abulw.,  Tanch.,  Ki.,  al.  §  Bochart,  al. 

II  Ra.,  Ki.,  a  Lyra,  Vatabl.,  al.  understand  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  (Sab- 
bath), which  was  the  fourth  day  of  the  feast.        II  ©i>  agrees  with  ».        "  So  IJe. 
ft  The  Hebrew  words  for  iAree  and  six  differ  only  in  one  consonant. 


336  JUDGES 

new  difficulty  meets  us,  however,  in  v.",  where  we  read  that  the 
woman  wept  upon  him  the  whole  seven  days  that  they  had  the 
feast ;  and  on  the  seventh  day,  tired  of  her  incessant  badgering, 
he  gave  in,  and  told  her  the  answer.  If  the  companions  first 
appealed  to  her  on  the  seve^ith  day  (v.^^  J^),  or  even  on  the 
fourth  day  ((§S),  her  weeping  seems  to  begin  prematurely  on 
the  first  day.*  Some  commentators  explain  that  she  had  teased 
him  for  the  first  six  days  merely  out  of  her  own  curiosity,  and 
that  on  the  seventh  her  importunity  was  redoubled  by  the  threats 
of  her  countrymen.!  If  this  had  been  the  meaning  of  the  writer, 
the  order  of  the  narrative  or  the  construction  of  v.^*^*^  would  in  all 
probability  have  been  different ;  as  it  is,  nothing  of  the  kind  is 
intimated  in  the  text.  The  dates  in  v.^'^-^^  are  therefore,  even 
after  their  internal  contradiction  is  removed  by  the  emendation 
six,  irreconcilable  with  those  in  v.^^ ;  one  or  the  other  must  be 
interpolated.  The  words  in  v.^''  do  not  read  like  a  gloss,  and  the 
removal  of  them  leaves  a  rather  awkward  sentence  ;  the  omission 
of  the  numbers  in  v."  and  v.^^,  on  the  contrary,  makes  no  break, 
and  Stade  rightly  rejects  them.  According  to  the  original  story, 
then,  the  Philistines  gave  up  the  riddle  right  away,  thinking  it  an 
easier  and  surer  way  to  win  the  wager,  to  learn  the  answer  from 
Samson  himself  through  their  countrywoman.  For  six  days  he  is 
obdurate  to  her  persuasions  and  tears,  but  at  last  can  bear  it  no 
longer  and  discloses  the  secret.  The  interpolation  in  v.^'*-  ^^  may 
have  been  due  to  the  feeling  that  the  PhiHstines  would  not  give  up 
so  easily.  — 15.  The  PhiHstines  set  Samson's  bride  to  discover 
his  secret.  —  Beguile  thy  husband~\  i6^.  —  And  make  him  tell  us 
the  riddle']  make  him  betray  himself  through  thee  to  us.  —  Lest  we 
burn  thee,  &'c.'\  15^,  cf.  12^  i  K.  16^^.  —  Did  you  invite  us  hither 
to  impoverish  us  ?]  see  crit.  note. 

10.  The  original  text  read:  Ji  nncD  00  tr;?^!  ncxn  Sn  pa'Dtt'  "!"\>i.  — 11.  ■•n^) 
iniN  dpin^d]  when  they  saw  him,  sc.  the  Timnathite  wedding  guests  (cum  ergo 
cives  loci  illius  vidissent  eum,  IL) ;  the  subject  is,  however,  not  at  hand  in  the 
context.  With  |!?  agree  ©^  3tS^,  while  (gAPVMNO  j  g  have  iv  ry  (popeTcrdai 
avToiis  (sub  obel.  s)  aurii' =  anN-ii^;  J  cf.  Fl.  Jos.,  5ia  84os  ttjs  icrx«5os  rod 
peaviaKov.     The  editor  who  introduced  these  words  probably  wrote  DniNno; 

*  Rashi's  explanation  is,  that  she  wept  the  remainder  of  seven  days,  viz.,  from 
the  fourth  on.  t  Schm.,  Ke.,  Be.  J  Cf.  also  ®L. 


XIV.   14  i8  9on 

DHNio,*  which  is  hardly  a  natural  cxprcssi^m  in  this  connexion,  is  meant  to 
be  more  explicit.  — inp>i]  the  text  is  to  be  cmentled,  not  I)y  supplying  the  sub- 
ject D^na'So  (Doorn2.),  but  by  reading  np>\  He  (Samson)  took,  cVc  —  12.  2>r'>tt' 
O^jno]  the  |nD  was  a  fine  stuff,  of  domestic  manufacture  (Prov.  312*),  an  article 
of  luxury  (Is.  323).  The  Talmud  mentions  various  uses  to  which  it  was  put; 
as  a  curtain  (^/.  Yovia,  iii.  4,  Jer.  Soia,  fol.  24c),  wrapper  {Alenach.,  37b), 
shroud  {Jer.  Kilaim,  ix.  fol.  32^).  M.  Kilaim,  xxiv.  13,  enumerates  three  vari- 
eties; see  Levy,  NHWb.  iii.  p.  480.  All  these  uses  suppose  that  it  was  a  sheet 
of  considerable  size.  So  it  is  interpreted  by  Abulw.,  Tanch.,  Ki.,  Saad.  on 
Is.  3"23,  JDMich.,  al.  See  Schroeder,  De  vestitu  fnulicrum,  p.  339-361 ; 
Hartmann,  IJebrlicrin,  ii.  p.  346  f.  — 14,  15.  The  original  text  and  the  first 
form  of  the  gloss  seem  to  have  been :  Dva  Tin  :  d^d>  p'^'c)  m^nn  n^jnS  1^3^  n^) 
x\  ptt'Dtt'  ntr'sS  ncx-'i  (^yo;:'.-!.  —  ir^N  ns  ^nc]  beguile,  2  S.  32^  i  K.  222"-2i. 'ju 
&c.  —  iJB^^;'?n]  inf.  Kal  (Ki.,  Ko.  i.  p.  412).  The  usual  inf.  is  •rz^-\.  Perhaps 
the  inf.  V'\\  was  used  for  distinction  in  the  sense  *  reduce  to  poverty,'  cf,  Niph. 
vyxi '  be  reduced  to  poverty.'  Contamination  of  signification  through  confusion 
with  -i^-j  •  poor '  may  be  suspected.  Some  copies  have  ija'->>'?n  (JDMich.,  cf. 
Ki.  Comm.,  and  Lex.  s.v.) ;  others,  to  exclude  this,  ij'>in>'?n  (see  Norzi).t  —  nSd] 
the  alternative,  or  not,  is  nS  dn,  not  xSn,  and  would,  even  if  correctly  expressed, 
be  out  of  place  here.  Read  dSn  hither,  %  which  is  found  in  some  Hebr. 
manuscripts  and  is  supported  by  %.  See  Bruns,  in  Eichhorn's  Repertorium, 
xiii.  p.  70;   De  Rossi,  Baer. 

16.  She  teases  him  day  by  day  to  tell  her  the  riddle.  —  Sam- 
son's wife  annoyed  him  by  weeping]  was  burdensome  to  him ; 
Nu.  1 1^^  cf.  Gen.  45^^.  —  Thott  only  hatest  tne,  and  dost  not  love  me 
at  all]  his  professions  of  love  are  belied  by  his  conduct,  which 
proves  the  opposite.  Co-ordination  of  affirmative  and  negative 
for  emphasis.  He  replies  to  her  reproaches  that  he  has  not  even 
told  his  own  parents  ;  that  he  does  not  disclose  the  riddle  to  her 
is  therefore  no  proof  of  lack  of  love  or  confidence.  — 17.  She 
gave  him  no, rest  from  her  tears  and  importunities  all  the  seven 
days  that  they  kept  the  feast  (v.^-^),  until  on  the  last  day  he  gave 
in,  and  told  her.§  — Because  she  besieged  him]  16'^ ;  pressed  him 
harder  and  harder.  She  at  once  communicated  the  secret  to  her 
countrymen.  — 18.  The  Timnathites  waited  till  the  last  moment, 
to  heighten  their  triumph  and  his  discomfiture.  —  On  the  seventh 
day,  before  he  went  into  the  bride-chamber]  at  night.     So  Stade 


*  Be.  would  read  criN"^":^,  cf,  2  S.  3". 

t  Baer  has  _^-  in  his  text,  _  in  the  apparatus. 

+  Stud.,  Sta,!  al.  '      \  See  on  v.i^f . 


338  JUDGES 

with  much  probability  conjectures;  cf.  15^*  The  text,  generally 
interpreted,  before  the  sun  set,-\  is  unintelligible.  See  on  v.^^''  and 
crit.  note.  He  sees  how  he  has  been  duped.  —  If  you  had  not 
plowed  with  my  heifer,  you  would  not  have  found  out  my  riddle] 
used  illegitimate  means.  The  rhyme  of  the  original  cannot  well 
be  imitated  in  English.  —  19.  In  a  fury,  which  is  not  merely  anger 
at  the  deception  that  has  been  practised  on  him,  but  an  access  of 
the  possession  to  which  he  is  subject  (13-^  14^),  he  rushes  away 
from  the  feast  and  his  bride.  —  To  Ashkelon]  the  city  of  Ashkelon 
was  on  the  seacoast  between  Gaza  and  Ashdod ;  %  a  two  days' 
journey  from  Timnath  across  the  whole  breadth  of  Philistia.  So 
remote  a  place,  and  a  large  fortified  city  besides,  hardly  agrees 
with  the  general  impression  we  receive  from  the  context,  that 
Samson  rushed  off  from  the  feast  in  a  rage,  surprised  some 
neighbouring  Philistine  village  and  slew  the  inhabitants,  returned 
to  Timnath  with  the  spoil,  paid  his  wager,  and  was  away  to  his 
father's  home  before  the  fit  was  over.  Now,  there  is  a  Khirbet 
'Asqaliln  little  more  than  an  hour  south  of  Timnath,  §  and  if  the 
half- verse  were  genuine,  we  should  be  strongly  inclined  to  think 
that  in  the  original  story  this,  and  not  Askelon  on  the  coast,  was 
the  scene  of  Samson's  exploit.  We  need  not,  in  such  a  narrative, 
nicely  weigh  the  probabilities  of  his  finding  among  the  spoil 
precisely  the  articles  he  had  wagered.  ||  Stade  has  given  good 
reason,  however,  for  regarding  the  entire  half-verse  as  an  addition 
to  the  narrative,  made  by  an  editor  who  thought  it  unworthy  of 
Samson  to  run  away  without  paying  the  wager  which  he  had  lost, 
even  though  the  Philistines  had  won  unfairly.  In  the  original 
story,  v.^^''  followed  immediately  upon  v.^^ ;  Samson,  in  a  passion, 
returned  to  his  father's  house.  That  v.^'^^  is  secondary  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  the  slaughter  of  the  Philistines  at  Ashkelon  has 
no  consequences  in  the  story,  in  which  e\J&rything  else  is  so  closely 
knit  in  the  nexus  of  cause  and   effect.'^     These  considerations, 


*  Z.A  TW.  iv.  1884,  p.  253  f. ;  the  conjecture  is  accepted  by  Bu.,  Kautzsch, 
Doorn2.  f  (GILa:.  +  See  DB^.  s.v.  ^  SWP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  107. 

II  The  explanation  which  would  evade  this  difficulty  by  supposing  that  Samson 
made  the  raid  on  Ashkelon  to  reimburse  himself  for  the  expense  he  had  been  at  in 
buying  all  these  clothes  (Be.)  is  more  ingenious  than  plausible. 

II  ZA  TW.  iv.  1884,  p.  254  f. ;  cf.  Doom.  Th.  T.,  1894,  P-  ^5  ^' 


XTV.   18-20 


339 


especially  the  last,  seem  to  me  decisive.  —  He  ions  an^r\,  ami 
went  up  to  his  father's  Iiouse']  angry  at  the  way  in  which  he  had 
been  treated  by  his  companions,  and  especially  at  the  perfidy  of 
his  wife,  which  he  resents  by  deserting  her.  Stade  infers  from 
v.^^,  before  he  entered  the  l?ride-chatnber,  that  the  marriage  had  not 
been  consummated.*  They  held  -back,  as  has  been  said,  to  the 
last  moment,  and  just  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  entering  the 
chamber,  they  give  their  answer :  What  is  sweeter  than  honey, 
and  what  is  fiercer  than  a  lion  ?  Instantly  seeing  through  the 
plot  and  upbraiding  them  for  it,  he  rushes  out  of  the  house,  and 
away  to  Zorah.  In  thus  mocking  her  he  inflicted  on  her  the  keen- 
est disgrace,  and  made  her  and  her  family  a  laughing-stock.  To 
repair  this  disgrace,  her  father  at  once  gave  her  into  the  arms  of 
the  7rapdvvfji<f>o^,  and  the  interrupted  wedding  was  completed.  — 
20.  To  his  comrade  who  had  been  his  best  vian'\  to  the  one  of  the 
thirty  "  comrades "  who  had  borne  the  part  of  the  <^tAo9  rov 
wfi<f>Lov  (John  3^) . 

16.  ""jPNTw' p-i]  all  you  do  is  hate  me;  see  notes  on  3^  ii84.  —  -,^Jx  -^s^^ 
exclamatory  question  of  surprise  and  reproach,  cf.  9^  1 1-^.  — 17.  p'^^]  usually 
with  S  pers.;  lit.  'make  it  strait  for  some  one,'  reduce  him  to  straits,  extremi- 
ties. Of  invasion  and  siege,  Dt.  28^2. 55. 57  is_  292-  7  Jer.  19^.  With  ace,  Job  1,2^^ 
(of  inner  constraint).  — 18.  noinn  N31  dtj::]  (Sll^  bt;/ore  the  sun  set,^  fol- 
lowed by  substantially  all  the  comm.  The  form  noin  is  explained  as  locative 
accus.;  the  significance  of  the  case  is  supposed  to  be  forgotten  (cf.  npjsn  v.*'). 
But  Din  'sun'  is  a  rare  word  (Job  g^  Is.  19I8,  gpe  on  Jud.  i^),  which  we 
should  not  expect  to  find  in  old  prose  instead  of  B'Ct:',  and  the  assumption 
that  the  locative  is  used  as  a  nominative  is  no  less  improbable.  The  case  of 
nnjDP  v.^  is  entirely  different  (see  there),  and  the  instances  in  late  poetry 
where  the  ending  B.  is  due  to  the  striving  after  more  sonorous  forms,  or 
blundering  archaism,  do  not  make  the  occurrer|ce  of  the  form  here  any  easier 
to  explain.  Stade's  emendation,  n-nnn  (15^),  is  one  of  those  comparatively 
rare  conjectures  which  are  self-evident  when  once  they  have  been  hit  upon.  — 
"•nSjya  D;i;:nn  nSiV]  ©  et  (xt)  KaTeSafida-are  tt}v  ddfioXiu  nov,  J  probably  for  the 
sake  of  the  paronomasia.  §  — 20.  iS  nyn  iir'N  injn?;^]  the  verb  (only  here)  is 
apparently  denominative  from  >n.  —  On  marriage  and  wedding  customs  see 
WRSmith,  Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia,  1885;   Wellhausen,  Die 

*  Does  Fl.  Jos.  intimate  this  by  his  rov  6e  ya\i.ov  iKtlvov  napairt'irai  ?  (Cler. 
on  15I).  t  ©B  (alone)  be/ore  the  sun  rose ;  cf.  818. 

+  (ffiB  id   ripoTpid<TaTi  ev  Trj  Sa^oiAtt  fiov. 

§  Hardly  intended  in  an  obsqene  sense  like  Z'-^n  MH.  (RLbG  2^). 


340  JUDGES 

Khe  bei  den  Arabern,  GgN.  1893,  p.  431-481 ;  Stubbe,  Die  Ehe  im  Alten 
Testament,  1886;  «  Nowack,  Hebr.  Arch'dologie^  i.  p.  155  ff.  Marriage  customs 
in  the  modern  East,  Russell,  Aleppo^,  1794,  i.  p.  281  ff.;  Lane,  Modern  Egypt- 
ians^ p.  155  ff.;  Wetzstein,  Zeitsckrift  fiir  Ethnologie,  v.  1873,  p.  287-294. 
The  marriage  of  Samson  is  the  only  instance  in  the  O.T.  in  which  the  bride 
remains  in  her  father's  house,  and  the  husband  lives  with  her  or  visits  her 
there ;   but  such  unions  were  probabiy  not  uncommon  in  early  Israel. 

XV.    1-8.    Samson    burns    the    Philistines'    grain    fields. — 

When  Samson's  anger  cools,  he  goes  down  to  Timnath  to  visit 
his  wife,  but  finds  that  she  has  been  given  to  another.  To  revenge 
himself,  he  turns  loose  three  hundred  foxes  with  firebrands  tied  to 
their  tails,  and  sets  fire  to  the  grain  in  the  fields.  Enraged  at  their 
loss,  the  Philistines  burn  the  woman  and  her  father,  who  had  been 
the  occasion  of  the  mischief.  Samson  retaliates,  and  takes  refuge  in 
a  rocky  fastness  in  Judah.  —  1.  After  a  while,  in  the  time  of  wheat 
haf'vest']  the  season  is  noted,  to  prepare  for  the  story  of  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  grain  fields,  v.'**^'.  —  Samson  went  to  visit  his  wife  with  a 
kid~\  as  a  present  to  her,  a  kind  of  morning  gift.  This  is  another 
indication  of  the  nature  of  the  marriage ;  it  is  not  impossible  that 
such  a  gift  was  expected  at  every  visit  of  the  husband.*  A  kid 
seems  to  have  been  a  customary  present  in  such  circumstances ; 
of.  Gen.  381'- 20- 23  Qudah  and  Tamar).  When  he  proposes  to  enter 
the  inner  part  of  the  house  to  see  his  wife,  her  father  interposes. 
—  2.  /  thought  you  must  certainly  hate  her,  so  I  gave  her  to  thy 
comrade~\  the  best  man  at  the  wedding,  14^°.  —  He  has  a  younger 
and  fairer  daughter  whom  he  offers  him  in  her  stead,  but  Samson 
declines.  —  3.  Samson  said  to  theni]  cf.  v.''^.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  that  in  either  case  the  words  were  spoken  in  their 
hearing  ;  the  threat  was  addressed  to  them.  —  /  am  without  fault 
toward  the  Philistines,  if  I  do  thein  an  injury^  he  cannot  be 
blamed  for  retaliating  upon  them  for  the  wrong  that  he  has  suf- 
fered;  they  have  given  him  just  occasion  (14'*).  —  4.  The  ingen- 
ious form  which  his  revenge  takes  is  one  of  those  strokes  of  rude 
wit  in  which  folk-stories  delight.  —  Th^-ee  hundred  foxes'^  many 

*  In  old  Arabia  such  a  gift  would  be  called  mdaq,  the  present  a  man  makes 
to  his  female  friend  {sad'iqa)  ;  see  W.  R.  Smith,  Kmship  and  Marriage,  p.  76; 
Wellhausen,  "  Die  Ehe  bei  den  Arabern,"  Nachrichten  der  kgl.  Gesellschaft  der 
Wissensch.  zu  Gdttingen,  1893,  p.  431-481,  esp.  p.  465  ff. 


interpreters,  reflecting  that  the  soHtary  habits  of  the  fox  would 
make  it  very  difficult  to  catch  such  a  number,  and  that  Samson's 
great  strength  would  be  of  no  avail  in  such  an  undertaking,  sup- 
pose that  the  author  mt:m\.Jacka/s,  which  roam  in  packs,  and  could 
easily,  it  is  said,  be  caught  by  the  hundred.*  That  the  Hebrew 
name  may  have  included  jackals  as  well  as  foxes  is  quite  possible  ; 
the  Arabs  are  said  in  some  places  to  confound  the  jackal  with  the 
fox,t  and  in  the  modern  Egyptian  dialect  the  classical  name  of 
the  fox  is  given  exclusively  to  the  jackal.  +  The  decision  of  the 
question  is  of  importance  only  to  those  who  take  the  story  as  a 
veracious  account  of  an  actual  occurrence.  They  should  consider, 
however,  whether  the  author  would  thank  them  for  their  attempts 
to  make  Samson's  wonderful  performance  easy.  —  Having  caught 
his  foxes,  Samson  turned  them  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a  torch,  that  is, 
a  stick  of  wood  wrapped  with  some  absorbent  material  and  satu- 
rated with  oil,§  between  each  pair  of  tails.  —  5.  He  set  the 
torches  on  fire,  and  turned  the  foxes  loose  into  the  Philistines' 
standing  grain.  —  A?id  burned  both  the  shocks  and  the  standing 
grain']  Ex.  22*^.  —  The  following  words,  and  the  vineyards  [and] 
olive  orchards,  are  probably  an  addition  by  a  later  hand,  exagger- 
ating the  mischief.  —  A  remarkable  parallel  to  this  story  is  found 
in  a  Roman  ceremony  described  by  Ovid,  in  which,  at  the  Cere- 
alia  in  April,  foxes  with  lighted  torches  tied  to  their  tails  were 
turned  loose  in  the  Circus.  ||  Older  scholars,  who  noted  the 
resemblance,  explained  it  by  supposing  that  the  Romans  had 
borrowed  the  custom  from  the  Phoenicians,  among  whom  it  kept 


*  Bochart,  Cler.,  Rosenmuller,  Ke.,  Cass.,  Tristram  {DB^.  i.  io86  f.),  RV.n'K .  al. 
mu.     In  Ps.  63II  jackals  seem  to  be  meant. 

t  Niebuhr,  Beschreibting  von  Arabien,  p.  i66.  The  jackal  is  not  found  in  the 
desert;  Doughty,  Arabia  Deserta,  ii.  p.  145. 

X  See  Lane,  Arab-Ent^l.  Lexicon,  p.  338a.  Hommel,  Siugethierc,  p.  310  f.,  seems 
to  be  mistaken  in  his  very  positive  assertion. 

\  See  7I6; 

II  Fasti,  iv.  681  fF.  Ovid  gives  a  rationalistic  explanation,  according  to  which  the 
custom  commemorated  the  burning  of  the  grain-fields  at  CarscoH  by  a  boy  who,  for 
sport,  had  tied  a  wisp  of  burning  hay  to  a  fox's  tail.  See  Preller.  Romische  Afythoh- 
gie^,  ii.  p.  43  f.,  where  the  cognate  ceremonies  of  the  Robigalia  are  also  tliscussed  ;  cf. 
also  Suidas,  s.v.  Neuipia  (Bochart,  p.  202  f.).  Analogous  customs  among  the  Arabs, 
see  Wellhausen,  Reste  arab.  Heidentumes,  p.  157  f. ;  Goldziher,  Muhammedanischf 
Studien,  i.  p.  34  f. 


342  JUDGES 

alive  the  memory  of  Samson's  foxes.*  Some  modern  writers 
give  to  both  the  same  mythical  interpretation.!  —  6.  The  fire 
spread  far  and  wide  through  the  fields  of  the  Philistines.  They 
seek  for  the  perpetrator  of  this  enormous  mischief,  and,  having 
found  out,  revenge  themselves  on  those  who  were  the  cause  of  it. 
—  They  went  2ip~\  from  other  parts  of  the  land  ;  it  was  not  the  work 
of  the  neighbours  in  Timnath  alone.  —  And  burnt  her  and  her 
father's  house  with  fire']  savage  retaliation  for  what  they  had  suf- 
fered by  fire.  The  reading  of  (§S,  and  her  father's  house,  is  to  be 
preferred  to  "^^  her  father ;  cf.  14^^  —  7.  Samson  said  to  them] 
see  on  v.^.  —  If  this  is  the  way  you  do,  I  ivill  surely  be  avenged  of 
you,  and  after  that  I  will  leave  off]  let  you  alone.  On  the  con- 
struction, see  note.  —  8.  He  smote  them,  hip  and  thigh,  with  a 
great  slaughter]  lit.  leg  on  {over,  over  and  above)  thigh ;  appar- 
ently a  proverbial  expression  for  complete  overthrow,  the  exact 
meaning  of  which  we  do  not  understand.  —  He  went  down  and 
stayed  in  the  fissure  of  the  cliff  Etam]  cf.  Is.  2^^  5  f.  The  rock 
or  cliff  of  Etam  was  in  Judah  (v.^^),  %  probably  near  the  town  of 
the  same  name  which  appears  in  the  list  of  places  fortified  by 
Rehoboam  between  Bethlehem  and  Tekoa  (2  Chr.  11^)  ;  see  also 
the  list  of  towns  in  Judah  which  in  (g  is  appended  to  Jos.  15^^.  § 
About  half  an  hour  south  of  Bethlehem,  near  the  village  of  Artas, 
is  an  'Ain  'Atan,  ||  which  is  doubtless  the  Etam  of  Chronicles  and 
Josephus,  and  with  which  the  Etam  of  our  story  is  identified  by 
Stanley  and  others.^  Schick  locates  the  scene  of  Jud.  14  in  the 
vicinity  of  'Artiif,  and  makes  an  ingenious  attempt  to  identify  Lehi 
(Khirbet  es-Siyyagh),  and  the  clifi"  Etam  ('Araq  Ismain).**  The 
situation  is  entirely  suitable,  lying  much  nearer  Timnath  and  Zorah 

*  Serarius,  Bochart.  The  obvious  objections  to  this  hypothesis  are  urged  by 
Cler. 

t  See  esp.  Steinthal,  Zeitschr.  fur  Vdlkerpsychologie,  ii.  p.  134.  See  note  at  the 
end  of  ch.  16. 

+  In  I  Chr.  48  we  find  a  Judahite  clan,  Etam. 

§  According  to  Fl.  Jos.,  Solomon's  gardens  were  there  {antt.  viii.  7,  3  \  186; 
two  schoeni  from  Jerusalem). 

II  Rob.,  BR^,  i.  477;  Gu6rin,  Judee,  iii.  p.  117  f.,  303;  Bad3.,  p.  134  f . ;  esp. 
Schick,  ZDPV.  i.  p.  152  f.     See  also  Neubauer,  Geogr.  du  Talmud,  p.  132. 

H  Stanley,  Jewish  Church,  i.  p.  371;  Kneucker,  BL.  s.v. ;  Gucrin,  I.e.;  Birch, 
PEF.  Qu.  St.  1881,  p.  323  f.;  Be2.;  Grove-Wilson,  DB'^.  s.v.;  al 

**  ZDPV.  X.  1887,  p.  131  ff.,  esp.  143  ff.,  152  ff.  (map,  after  p.  194). 


XV.  6-8  343 

than  'Ain  'Atan ;   the  rock  is  an  almost  vertical  cliff,  with  a  large 
cave,  very  difficult  and  even  dangerous  of  access. 

3.  o^ntySDC  oyon  >n>|-^j]  '^d  jo  npj,  Nu.  32'''-  cf.  2  S.  3''^*'  (oyc),  be  free,  (juit 
of  all  claims,  so  that  they  have  no  right  to  redress  or  satisfaction.  —  Z';d^\  0^^ 
j518.  28.  in  the  Hcxateuch  only  in  J.  —  4.  |dm]  Iliph.;  see  Norzi  ad  /oc,  and 
the  grammarians  there  cited.  The  rule  laid  down  for  these  forms  in  e  is  that 
Kal  has  _  (e.g.  ^0^]),  Iliph.  _  as  here;  Hayyug  ed.  Nutt,  p.  62,  1.  30  fl'.;  Ki., 
Michlol,  fol.  Ii6'i,  ed.  Lyck. — Two  foxes  or  jackals  tied  tail  to  tail  in  this 
fashion  would  certainly  not  run  far  in  the  same  direction;  "they  would  most 
assuredly  pull  counter  to  each  other,  and  ultimately  fight  most  liercely " 
(Col.  H.  Smith  in  Kitto's  Cyclopaedia,  art.  "  Shual").  Houghton  (/;/>'.  s.v. 
"  Fox ")  *  would  relieve  the  difficulty  by  supposing  that  they  were  tied 
together  by  a  cord  two  or  three  yards  long;  but  this  is  against  the  plain 
sense  of  the  text.  —  5.  O"'?  0^3  -i;;i]  in  the  Talmud  {Berach.^  35"*)  pm  is  con- 
strued as  a  genitive,  olive  plantation ;  so  Ki.  2*^,  RLbG.,  Ke.,  RV.  This  is 
without  warrant  in  usage;  if  the  words  are  genuine  they  must  be  emended, 
nn  1^1,  or  at  least,  t\''\\\  cf.  91.  —  6.  •'jDnn]  patrial  adj.  from  a  fern,  noun 
(njDP),  formed  like  >>'-»]«  i  Chr.  2^*  from  ny^x;  see  01.  §  218  r;  Mufassal, 
§295;  Wright,  Arab.  Gram.,\.  §251.  Compare  z^rr;  16-  from  nr;\  —  pni 
n>as]  many  codd.  of  f^  (De  Rossi),  with  ©S,t  read  noN  no  pni,  which  is 
probably  the  original  text  (Lilienthal,  1770).  —  7.  '»pC|"'j  cn  o]  3n  o  after  an 
oath,  2  K.  5''^'^  Jer.  5114,  2  S.  1521  Ruth  3I2  (Kethib) ;  without  preceding 
particle  of  swearing,  i  S.  21'^. — The  variations  of  &  seem  to  have  no  critical 
value.  —  8.  i-c  "r;^  pry']  ^  interprets, //(7rj^  and  foot  (so  Ra.,  Ki.  1°,  Tanch., 
RLbG.),  without  support  in  usage,  or  probabiHty.  Ki.  2^  explains  that  in 
their  headlong  flight  they  fell,  leg  over  thigh,  as  we  say,  '  heels  over  head.' 
Castell  and  Cler.  conjectured  that  it  was  a  wrestler's  term  (cf.  v-rroaKeXl^eiv, 
supplantare),  he  tripped  them  up.  Other  guesses  may  be  seen  in  Schm.  and 
Rosenm.  J  The  Arab,  idioms  sometimes  adduced  in  illustration  (see  Lane, 
Arab.-Engl.  Lex.,  p.  1471)  are  not  parallel.  —  n"'>'^]  is  rendered  hole,  cave,  or 
the  like  by  (53L,  Ra.,  and  most  modern  scholars.  \\\  Is.  \f  27!'^  3>c';d  are 
twigs  or  branches  of  trees,  cf.  nD;'D  Ez.  31^  ^  and  the  vb.  denom.  ivp  Is.  \o^\ 
Abulw.,  Tanch.,  Ki.,  regard  the  application  of  the  word  to  rocks  as  tropical 
in  the  sense  of  extremities,  hence,  peaks,  crags.  §  So  Cler.,  Vatabl.,  Drus., 
CBMich.,  in  Velthusen  and  Kuinoel,  Commentt.  theoL,  v.  p,  470.  Cf.,  however, 
the  Arab,  siibeh,  cleft  in  a  mountain,  and  forked  branch  of  a  tree;  JDMich., 
Supplementa,  No.  1763;  BSZ.  j.z/.  —  t^m]  cf.  imSy^i  v.i3.  It  is  hazardous  to 
urge  these  verbs  in  endeavouring  to  fix  the  site  of  Etam;  cf.  ii''"  and  esp. 
2  S.  5I".  —  D:3^y]  another  Etam  is  mentioned  in  I  Chr.  d^-  among  the  villages 
of  Simeon,  in  conjunction  with  'Ain-rimmon  (Um  er-rumamim,  three  or  four 

*  Cf.  DBK  p.  1087a.  t  Not  ©BN. 

X  The  expression  greatly  puzzled  Aug. ;  sec  qttaest.  55, 

^  Cf.  Aquila,  Is.  57^,  and  IL  ibid. 


344  JUDGES 

hours  N.  of  Beersheba),  and  here  Van  de  Velde,  Ke.,  Miihlau,  al.  would  seek 
Samson's  refuge  (Ri.  HWB^.,  MV.,  s.v.).  This  is,  however,  far  remote  from 
the  scene  of  all  his  other  adventures;  it  was  not  in  Judah;  and,  finally,  in  the 
original  of  the  list,  Jos.  19',  the  name  is  not  Dta^y  but  in;'.  Conder  formerly 
proposed  Beit  'Atab  {SIVF.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  22  f.;  Tent  Work,  i.  p.  275-277), 
against  which  see  Schick,  ZDPV.  x.  p.  144  f.;  Wilson,  DB-.  i.  1004.  For 
Conder's  opinions  see  also  PEF.  Qu.  St.,  1876,  p.  176,  1883,  P-  182. 

9-13.  The  Philistines  seek  Samson ;  the  men  of  Judah  take 
him  to  give  him  up.  —  9.  The  Philistines  invade  Judah  to  make 
Samson  prisoner  and  revenge  themselves  upon  him.  —  Made  a 
raid  upon  Lehi~\  2  S.  5^^"'".  —  Lehi,  only  in  this  chapter  (^y.^- "•  ^'- ^®) 
and  2  S.  23".*  From  the  following  verses  it  appears  that  it  was 
nearer  the  Philistine  border  than  Etam.  The  site  is  unknown ; 
Schick  would  identify  it  with  Khirbet  es-Siyyagh,'  which  he  sup- 
poses to  represent  Siagon,  the  Greek  equivalent  of  the  Hebrew 
Lehi,  '  jawbone.' t  — 10.  They  announce  their  purpose  to  take 
Samson,  and  to  do  to  him  as  he  has  done  to  them ;  cf.  v.'^^  i^.  — 
11.  To  deliver  themselves  from  the  invaders,  the  men  of  Judah 
resolve  to  capture  Samson  and  deliver  him  to  the  Philistines.  In 
Judah  the  Danite  Samson  was  a  stranger,  who  had  no  claim  to  the 
protection  of  the  tribe.  The  conduct  of  Judah  appears  to  us 
pusillanimous,  but  there  is  no  sign  that  the  author  of  the  chapter, 
who  was  probably  himself  a  Judaean,  took  such  a  view  of  it.  He 
probably  thought  only  of  the  opportunity  which  was  thus  given 
Samson  to  make  havoc  among  the  uncircumcised.  —  TJu^ee  thou- 
sand mefi]  a  flattering  estimate  of  Samson's  prowess.  —  They 
upbraid  him  for  having  given  this  provocation  to  their  Philistine 
masters;  What  did  he  mean  by  doing  such  a  thing?  He  rephes 
that  it  was  only  fair  retaliation  (cf  v.^°). — 12.  They  explain 
what  they  have  come  to  do.  He  stipulates  that  they  shall  not 
themselves  do  him  any  harm.  — 13.  They  pledge  themselves  not 
to  put  him  to  death  ;  they  will  only  bind  him  and  deliver  him  to 
the  Philistines.  On  this  assurance  he  surrenders  himself  to  them. 
They  bind  him  with  two  new  ropes  (16"*),  and  bring  him  from 
his  refuge. 

•  On  2  S.  2311  see  note. 

t  Cf.  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  8,  8  §  300,  ^wp'ov  5  l,iayiiv  KaXelTai.  See  above,  p.  342 ; 
and  cf.  ZDPV.  x.  p.  154  f.  n. ;  so  also  Conder,  PEF.  Qu.  St.  1883,  p.  182. 


XV.  9-17  345 

14-17.  Samson  breaks  his  bonds,  and  kills  a  thousand  Phil- 
istines with  an  ass's  jawbone.  — 14.  His  captors  bring  liiin  to 
Lehi,  where  the  Philistines  are  waiting  for  him.  As  they  come  to 
meet  him  with  premature  shouts  of  triumph,  the  spirit  of  Yahweh 
comes  mightily  upon  him  (i4"'''';  see  on  3^").  —  The  ropes  which 
were  on  his  arms  beca?ne  like  flax  that  has  caui^ht  fire']  1 6'-' ;  they 
disappeared  in  a  flash.  —  His  hands  rnelted  off  his  hands.  — 15.  He 
snatches  the  first  weapon  that  came  to  hand.  —  A  green  jawbone 
of  a?i  ass]  heavy  and  tough ;  an  old  weathered  bone  would  be 
too  light  and  brittle  to  serve  such  a  purpose.*  —  And  killed  a 
thousand  men]  compare  the  slaughter  of  the  IMiilistincs  by  Sham- 
gar  (3^^^,  and  by  Shammali  (2  S.  23").  It  is  noteworthy  that  the 
latter  was  also  at  Lehi.f  — 16.  Samson  celebrates  his  victory  in  a 
couplet,  punning  on  the  name  of  his  singular  weapon  in  a  way 
which  we  cannot  imitate  : 

With  the  jawbone  of  an  ass  I  have  piled  them  in  heaps  ; 
With  the  jawbone  of  an  ass  I  have  killed  a  thousand  men. 

im  pronounces  the  verbs  in  the  first  line  as  nouns,  a  heap,  two 
heaps,  i.e.  heaps  upon  heaps;  cf.  Ex,  8^*  (8^").  Many  recent 
scholars,  following  an  etymological  conjecture  of  Doorninck's, 
translate,  /  have  flayed  them  clean ;  \  see  note.  — 17.  IVhen  he 
had  finished  sayi?ig  this,  he  threw  the  jawbone  away,  and  so  the 
place  got  the  nafne  Ra?nath-lehi]  the  author  interprets  this  name, 
by  a  false  etymology,  *'  the  throwing  of  the  jawbone  "  ;  in  reality, 
Ramah,  as  in  Ramoth-gilead  and  many  other  names  of  places, 
means  *  height' ;  §  see  below,  p.  346. 

9.  In  2  S.  23^1  for  n^n"^  fSi  Qrjpla  &,  read,  with  ©Lai-  iirl  (nay6t'a,  and 
Fl.  Jos.,  n^n^;  Bochart,  Kennicott,  Ew.,  Then.,  Bo.,  We.,  Ke.,  Kamph.,  Dr., 
al.  mu.  — 12.    ppsn  ]d  >h  lyau-n]  cf.  21"  (\n^3^  with  inf.),  Is.  54'-'  {]•:  with  inf.). 

*  See  Bochart,  Hierozouon,  i,  p.  171  ff.,  ed.  Rosenm.,  with  the  writers  cited  by 
Rosenm.,  p.  171,  n.  Accordinj^  to  Moslem  tradition  the  first  blood  in  the  cause  of 
Islam  was  drawn  with  the  same  weapon.  A  party  of  Meccan  idolaters  havinq 
come  upon  the  believers  at  prayer  in  a  retired  place,  words  led  to  blows,  and  Sa"d 
ibn  Abi  Waqqas  broke  the  head  of  one  of  the  heathen  with  the  jawbone  {lahy 
=  Heb.  lehi)  of  a  camel  ('I'abari,  i.  p.  1169;  Ibn  Hisham,  p.  166). 

t  Note  also  the  similarity  of  the  names ;  see  above  on  s^i,  p.  106. 

+  Or,  shaved  them  ;  Doom.,  Matthes,  Bu.,  Kautzseli,  Buhl. 

§  So  ffl  correctly  pronounces  it. 


346  JUDGES 

— 14.  \nS  n>'  N3  Nin]  circumstantial  clause  preceding  the  principal  sentence; 
cf.  1 83  19I1  I  S.  9II,  with  pf.  Gen.  44*  Jud.  324  18^2,  Dr^.  §  169;  Davidson, 
Syntax^  p.  188-190.  —  invSipS  x;>-\r\  OTitt'Ssi]  continuation  of  the  oiacumstan- 
tial  clause;  with  the  pregnant  constr.  cf.  14^  19^.  J?nn,  hurrah  in  triumph, 
Jer.  50I5.  — 15.  ■'nV]  Dt./i8^;  here  the  under  jaw.  —  nnto]  Is.  i^^  of  a  recent 
wound;  cf.  Arab,  tariy,  '  fresh,  moist,  juicy.'  *  ©  ippi/xfi^prjp,  3L,  follow  the 
common  Aram,  sense  of  n'^o.  — 16.  D-rnDn  lion  nicnn  ■•n'?^]  fH  took  the  last 
two  words  as  nouns  ("\"'wn  paronomastic  by-form  of  ich  Ex.  8^"^;  cf.  i  S.  16'^^), 
the  sg.  and  dual  being  joined  as  in  ^^^.  (3  rightly  read  them  as  inf.-abs.  and 
finite  verb.  It  is  most  natural  to  connect  this  verb  with  "ipn  '  heap,'  Ex.  S^*^ 
(J) ;  DTiisn  n^cn,  /  heaped  them  all  up ;  cf.  %%.  (§  translates,  i^aXeicptov 
i^Tq\ei\f/a  ai/Tovs  (%  delevi).  Doom,  would  combine  this  with  Arab,  hamara, 
'pare,  skin,  shave';  f  'as  a  razor  takes  the  hair  off  the  face,  so  Samson  had 
cleared  the  Philistines  off  the  earth';  Buhl  (BSZ.  s.v.),  better,  Ich  habe  sie 
griindlich  geschunden.  There  is,  however,  no  trace  of  this  meaning  or  any- 
thing like  it  in  Hebrew.  —  ''nS  nnn]  Height  of  Lehi  ;  cf.  :djj  nci,  i;?'?^  nnn.  J 
So  fH  pronounces  (nD">);  (^  and  IL  also  connect  with  on.  The  author  ety- 
mologizes, "the  throwing  of  the  jawbone  "  (nm). 

18,  19.  Origin  of  the  spring  En  ha-Qore  at  Lehi.  — 18.  After 
his  hot  work  he  was  very  thirsty,  and  finding  no  water  cried  to 
Yahweh.  —  Thou  hast  given  thy  servant  this  great  victory']  cf. 
I  S.  19^  2  S.  23^°-^-.  —  And  now  shall  I  die  of  thirst,  and  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  uncircumcised  ?]  exclamatory  question. — 
19.  And  God  clave  the  Mortar  which  is  in  Lehi]  Heb.  Maktesh  ; 
probably  a  round  and  somewhat  deep  basin,  called  from  its  form 
"  the  Mortar,"  perhaps  with  a  cleft  in  one  of  its  sides  from  which 
the  water  flowed.  There  was  a  Maktesh  in  Jerusalem  also  (Zeph. 
i^^),  doubtless  so  called  from  its  configuration.  He  drank  of  the 
water  thus  miraculously  given,  and  his  strength  revived.  The 
name  of  the  spring  perpetuated  the  memory  of  his  cry  and  God's 
answer.  —  En  ha-qore]  interpreted  by  the  author.  Spring  of  the 
Caller,  i.e.  the  man  who  called  to  God  in  his  need.  In  reality, 
*the  caller'  {gore)  is  the  Hebrew  name  of  the  partridge  (i  S.  26^° 
Jer.  17^^),  and  the  original  significance  of  the  name  was  doubt- 
less, Partridge  Spring.  §  —  Which  is  at  Lehi  to  this  day]  a  witness 
to  the  fact ;  cf.  i  S.  6^^ :  the  great  stone  on  which  they  set  down 
the  ark  is  a  witness  to  this  day,  in  the  field  of  Joshua  the  Beth- 


*  So  3r  here.    See  Bochart,  i.  p.  171,  ed.  Rosenm. 

t  JDMich.  had  long  before  combined  (DIL  with  the  Arabic  word. 

X  ©  I'a^aO,  I'f,x,xa9.  §  Stud.,  We.,  Reuss. 


XV.   I8-20 


347 


shemite.*  The  words  arc  wrongly  divided  in  ffl,  the  Spring  of 
the  Caller  which  is  in  Lchi,  unto  this  day.  —  20.  J le  judi^cd  Israel 
tiventy  years ^  in  the  days  of  the  Philistines'^  see  on  12^,  and  Intro- 
duction, §  7. 

19.  pp::]  cleave  a  rock,  to  bring  forth  water.  Is.  48-1  (referring  to  Ex.  i/' 
or  Nu.  20").  —  D^■^SN]  elsewhere  in  the  context  nin>.  —  :;ti3::,-i]  Zeph.  i^* 
Prov.  2722*,  MH.  (more  freq.  fem.  ntt'HDD,  Levy,  MHWb.  iii.  p.  117;  see 
Jerome  on  Zeph.  i",  0pp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  vi.  686);  the  vb.  Prov.  I.e.,  MIL  freq. 
Of  an  excavation  in  the  earth  shaped  like  a  mortar,  Tos.  Nidda,  viii.  6  (p.  6502 
ed.  Zuckerm.) ;  as  the  proper  name  of  a  place,  in  an  inscription  published  by 
de  Vogiie,  see  SS.  p.  347.!  Very  many  interpreters,  ancient  and  modern, 
understand  by  ""nS  here,  not  the  place  so  called  (v.^  cf.  v.^^),  but  the  ass's  jaw- 
bone (v.i5).  tynDDH  is  then  explained  of  a  hollow  in  the  bone,  probal^ly  the 
socket  of  a  large  tooth;  cf.  6'X/ios  'mortar,'  oX/xla-Kos  (Poll.,  ii.  93)  'socket 
of  a  tooth,'  tnoj-tariohim.  So  numerous  Fathers,  some  of  the  Rabbis  who 
discuss  the  question  in  Beresh.  rabba,  §  98;  Ra.,  Bochart,  Grot.  Others 
interpret,  molar  toodi ;  so  ^rcuchi.  m.  ven.  1  (^s-^^-j  s  H.  J  Accordingly  Bochart, 
Grotius,  and  others  suppose  that  after  having  once  thrown  the  jaw  away  he 
picked  it  up  again  and  drank  from  it.  But  that  this  is  not  the  author's  mean- 
ing is  clear  from  the  fact  that  he  says  that  the  spring  was  to  be  seen  at  Lehi 
to  this  day.  See  esp.  Clericus,  who  refutes  Bochart  at  length,  and  quotes  on 
his  side  Ussher,  Arias  Mont.,  Castell,  Schm.,  al.  Lehi  was  probably  so  called 
from  some  real  or  fancied  resemblance  to  the  jaw  of  an  animal;  comp.  the 
peninsula  "Qvov  yvddos  in  Laconia,  just  within  Malea,  Strabo,  viii.  5,  2,  p.  363 
(Steinthal,  We.).§  What  the  point  of  resemblance  was  it  is  idle  for  us  to 
imagine.  In  the  hillside  or  at  its  base  was  a  round  depression,  called  from 
its  shape  Maktesh,  Mortar,  and  in  this  was  En  ha-qore,  the  Partridge  Spring. 
In  these  verses  we  htwe,  therefore,  a  very  good  example  of  the  variety  of 
aetiological  legend  which  grows  out  of  the  explanation  of  names  of  places 
by  popular  etymology.  1|  Ramath-lehi  is  the  place  where  Samson  threw 
away  the  jawbone;  Maktesh,  a  hollow  which  God  made  to  reach  water  to 
quench  Samson's  thirst;  while  En  ha-qore  is  the  spring  which  burst  forth  in 
response  to  his  call.  We  may  safely  go  a  step  further,  and  apply  the  same 
explanation  to  the  whole  story  of  the  slaughter  of  the  Philistines;  ■'n'^3  in 
Hebrew  may  be  understood  either  at  Lehi  or  with  a  jawbone.     The  story  has 


*  We.,  Dr. 

t  Maktesh  a  rock  in  the  place  called  Lehi,  (Tven.'.'  al.  (sec  Ki.),  RLbG.,  cf.  Fl.  Jos. 

+  2i;ven.  2.  ant.  al.  n3"'3  ;  see  Ki.,  Comtn.  arwl  L.cx.  Ki.  explains  vNDd  as  socket  of 
the  tooth;  but  see  Aruch,  s.v.  NJD'-;  and  Bochart,  i.  p.  176. 

^  Beer-lahai-roi  (Gen.  yG-^)  is  probably  a  name  of  the  same  kind ;  ^n"i  'n\ 
wild  goat's  jawbone.  We.  Prol'^.  p.  339.  We.  refers  also  to  WakidI,  p.  298,  n.  2, 
Yaqut  iv.  p.  3539ff. :  Arab  names  of  places  ;  Lahy,  or  Lahya,  tj^amai,  camel's  jaw, 

II  See  Bernheim,  Lehrbuch  der  hist.  Methode^.,  p.  263  f. 


348  JUDGES 

no  mythical  features.  —  Samson's  fomitain  was  shown  in  Jerome's  time  and 
later  in  the  vicinity  of  Eleutheropolis;  see  Rob.,  BR'^.  ii.  64  f.;  Guerin,  Jiidee, 
ii.  p.  318  f.  Modern  attempts  to  identify  Lehi  have  thus  far  led  to  nothing. 
Van  de  Velde's  Tell  el-Lekiyeh,  4  m.  N.  of  Beersheba,  is  far  too  remote 
(see  on  v.^) ;  Guerin's  Khirbet  'Ain  el-Lehi,  NW.  of  Bethlehem  {Judee,  ii. 
p.  396  ff.),  is  unverified,  and  is  also  too  far  away;  on  Khirbet  es-Siyyagh  see 
above,  p.  344.  Conder  finds  an  'Ayiin  Qara,  NW.  of  Zorah  (  Tent  Work,  i. 
p.  277);  the  name  does  not  appear  in  the  Name  Lists  of  the  Survey.  See 
DBK  i.  p.  939;   Ri.  HWB"^.  p.  898. 

XVI.  1-3.  Samson  carries  off  the  gates  of  Gaza.  —  Samson 
visits  Gaza  and  lodges  with  a  harlot.  The  Philistines  learn  of  his 
presence,  and  lay  their  plans  to  kill  him  in  the  morning.  He  rises 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  pulls  up  the  gate-posts,  and  carries  off 
the  city-gates  to  a  hill  near  Hebron.  —  The  story  is  of  the  same 
character  with  the  rest  of  the  cycle,  and  doubtless  of  the  same  ori- 
gin. In  v.^  a  later  hand  appears  to  have  exaggerated  the  precau- 
tions taken  by  the  PhiHstines,  from  which  some  confusion  results. 

1.  Gaza]  the  most  southern  city  of  Palestine  on  the  coast  and 
on  the  land  route  to  Egypt  through  the  desert.  Its  position  made 
it,  from  the  earliest  times,  a  place  of  great  commercial  and  military 
importance ;  its  name  is  found  in  the  Egyptian  hsts  from  the  time 
of  Thothmes  III.,*  long  before  the  Philistine  invasion,  as  well  as 
in  the  Amarna  tablets;  and  it  is  still  a  thriving  city  of  16,000 
inhabitants.t — A  harlot]  Jos.  2^  Gen.  t,^^-'  &c.  —  2.  //  was  told 
the  Gazaites,  Samson  is  come  hither]  the  first  verb  has  accidentally 
dropped  out  of  ?i|.  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  hard  to  understand. 
If  the  Philistines  were  lying  in  wait  for  him  at  the  gate  of  the  city, 
it  is  not  easy  to  conceive  how  Samson  could  pull  up  and  carry  off 
the  gates  unmolested  ;  if  the  author  imagined  that  the  guards  were 
asleep,  %  he  could  hardly  have  failed  to  give  us  some  intimation, 
—  and  what  sound  sleepers  they  must  have  been  !  Studer  would 
omit  the  words  all  night  in  v.%  §  and  suppose  that  they  lay  in  wait 


♦  Miiller,  Asien  u.  Europa,  p.  159. 

t  On  Gaza  see  Reland,  Palaestma,  p.  787-800 ;  Neubauer,  Grog,  du  Talmud, 
p.  67  f.;  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,  p.  441  f. ;  Stark,  Gaza  und  die 
fkilist.  Kuste,  1852;  Rob.,  BR"^.  ii.  p.  36-43;  Guerin,  Judee,  ii.  p.  178-21 1 ;  SVVP. 
Memoirs,  iii.  234  f.,  248  ff. ;  Gatt,  ZDPV.  vii.  p.  1-14,  viii.  p.  69-79;  G.  A.  Smith, 
Hist.  Geog.,  p.  181-189;  Bad3.,  p.  157  ff.  %  Cler.,  al.  \  So  also  Doom. 


XVT.  1-3  349 

for  him  at  the  gates  all  day,  but  when  tlie  gates  were  closed  at 
night,  feehng  sure  that  he  could  not  escape,  withdrew  until  morn- 
ing. But  if  this  had  been  the  author's  meaning,  he  would  have 
written  all  day,  or,  until  the  gales  were  closed,  or,  until  sunset 
(when  every  one  would  understand  that  the  gates  were  shut, 
cf.  Jos.  2^) .  I  suspect  that  the  whole  of  w.''^  is  a  later  addition, 
intended  to  make  Samson's  escape  the  more  wonderful  by  exag- 
gerating the  precautions  which  the  Philistines  took  to  prevent  it. 
A  less  radical,  but  at  the  same  time  less  probable,  conjecture 
would  be  that  the  author  wrote,  They  surrounded  the  house,  and 
lay  171  wait  for  him  all  night  long;  supposing  that  in  the  darkness 
Samson  slipped  through  their  lines.  —  They  kept  quiet  all  nighty 
saying,  When  7norning  dawfis  we  will  kill  hini\  they  had  no  reason 
to  think  that  he  would  try  to  leave  the  place  by  night,  or  that  he 
could  get  out,  after  the  gates  were  closed,  even  if  he  attempted  it ; 
so  they  did  nothing,  confident  that  in  the  morning  they  would  be 
able  to  find  and  kill  him.  The  half-verse  seems  to  me  to  exclude 
v.""^,  with  its  contradictory  representation  that  they  lay  in  wait  for 
him  all  night  at  the  gate.  —  3.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  he 
arose,  and  made  his  way  through  the  deserted  streets  to  the  city 
gate.  —  A7id  laid  hold  of  the  doors  of  the  city  gate  and  the  two 
gate-posts,  and  pulled  them  up,  together  with  the  bar'\  the  two 
leaves  of  the  gate  were  not  hinged  to  the  gate-posts,  but  turned 
on  pins  moving  in  sockets  in  the  sill  and  lintel.  The  bar  was  let 
into  the  two  posts,  and  secured  by  some  kind  of  a  lock.*  Samson 
pulled  the  posts  out  of  the  ground,  and  carried  off  in  one  piece  the 
doors  and  the  whole  framework.  —  And  put  them  on  his  shoulders, 
and  carried  thetn  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  that  faces  Hebron']  the 
distance  from  Gaza  to  Hebron  cannot  be  far  from  forty  miles.  A 
late  Latin  tradition,  of  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  are  said 
to  know  nothing,!  fixes  the  place  where  Samson  deposited  the 
gates  of  Gaza  at  El-Muntar,  J  a  hill  SE.  of  Gaza,  and  only  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  outside  the  walls,  §  and  this  site  is  adopted, 
against  the  plain  text,  by  some  recent  commentators,  who  are 


*  See  nm.  i.  p.  1129.  t  Rob,.  BlyT^  ii.  p.  39  n. 

+  Sandys  (1611),  Quarcsmius  (1616-25)  ;  see  Rob.  l.r.   So  also  liertrand,  Gu6rin. 
§  On  El-Muntar  sec  Rob.,  Z>Vv'-.  ii.  p.  39;    Ciuerin,  Judcc,  ii.  p.  x83  f.;   SV\P. 
Memoirs,  iii.  p.  237;  BaJa..  p.  159;  Gait,  ZDPV.  vii.  p.  it 


350  JUDGES 

inclined  to  reduce  as  much  as  possible  the  wonderful  character  of 
Samson's  feats.*  It  is  possible,  as  Bertheau  suggests,  that  some 
natural  formation  on  a  hill  near  Hebron  may  have  been  called  the 
"  Gates  of  Gaza,"  and  that  the  story  thus  had  an  origin  similar  to 
those  in  the  preceding  chapter  (Lehi) ;  but  it  is  clear  that  the 
narrator  was  not  aware  of  any  such  local  connexion  in  this  case, 
and  the  hypothesis  is  neither  necessary  nor  probable. 

1.  nnry  pU'C'i' iSm]  ©-^^lm  g  j.  f^^t  iiropevdr]  S.  eKCidev  (sub  obel.  S)  et's 
Td^av.  This  connects  the  story  with  the  close  of  the  preceding  (15^^);  from 
the  scene  of  his  exploit  at  Lehi  he  went  to  Gaza.  No  one  would  be  likely  to 
make  such  a  connexion  across  15^'^,  while  after  that  verse  the  somewhat  awk- 
ward particle  would  easily  be  dropped.  The  eKeWev  (d!:'d)  is  therefore  probably 
original.  —  2.  □•'ni>7^]  patrial  adjective  from  fem.  n.  pr.  preserving  the  fern,  end- 
ing t;  contrast  •'JDnn  156^  f^e  verb  is  lacking :  (B  dvrjyyiXrj,  dinjyy^Xr]  =  nj>]. 
The  other  versions  supplied  the  verb  in  translation.  —  luhnnM]  Hithpa.^;  Hiph. 
is  usual;  Like  ns'nn  (18^)  and  ddt  (i  S.  14^),  u'nnn  means  '  keep  still '  in  both 
senses  of  the  Engl,  words,  silent,  and  motionless,  inactive;  in  the  latter  sense 
2  S.  19II  Ex.  14I4.  —  injj-ini  -ip^n  ms  -\y  idnS]  ^apslmo  ^^^j  0wt6s  Trpuif  fieipca- 
fj.ev  (sub  obel.  ^  s)  Kal  aTroKTeipcofxev  avrbv.  ij.€ivu)/j.€v  is  probably  inserted  to 
smooth  the  construction  in  Greek.  In  '^  the  principal  verb  is  left  to  be 
understood  from  the  preceding;  with  the  aposiopesis  cf.  esp.  i  S.  i^^.  The 
question  may  be  raised  whether  the  cons.  pf.  "injj-ini  is  to  be  taken  as  belong- 
ing to  the  clause  of  t;  (till  the  morning  dawns  and  we  kill  him),  or  as  the 
apodosis  of  that  clause  (wait  till  the  morning  dawns,  and  ^/len  we  will  kill 
him).  Cf  Jos.  lis  610  Gen.  298  i  S.  122  2  S.  lo^;  Dr^.,  p.  135  Obs.,  thinks  that 
in  these  instances  the  general  structure  of  the  sentence  favours  the  former 
alternative,  and  that  if  the  latter  were  true  we  might  expect  rather  -\nxi  with 
impf  (Jos.  2i6).t  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  consec.  pf.  in 
these  cases  is  not  gratnmatically  subordinate,  but  co-ordinate.  The  structure 
is  precisely  the  same  in  Jud.  61^  i  S.  lo^  14^^  Gen.  27^^^  where  the  pf.  psycho- 
logically belongs  to  the  time  clause,  as  in  Ex.  3322f-  Jos.  6i"^,  where  it  psychologi- 
cally belongs  to  the  main  sentence.  The  Hebrew  only  says:  Expectabis 
donee  veniam  ad  te  et  ostendam  tibi  quid  facias  (i  S.  lo^);  et  protegam 
dextera  mea  donee  transeam  et  tollam  manum  meam  et  videbis  posteriora 
mea  (Ex.  33~f).  This  indifference  of  construction  represents  a  certain  loose- 
ness of  conception;  the  question  which  our  more  logical  apparatus  of  particles 
and  tenses  compels  us  in  translating  to  answer  in  one  way  or  the  other  can 
hardly  have  occurred  to  the  writer  and  his  readers  at  all.  Only  in  cases 
where  some  emphasis  was  thrown  on  the  temporal  relation  of  the  following 
verb  do  we  find  it  introduced  by  tx  or  ins.  —  3.  Ji  mnSiD  toxm]  this  verb  is 
pronounced  l^y  |5l  as  primae  gutturalis  also  I  K.  61°  Eccl.  f^^\   elsewhere 


E.g.  by  Kti.  t  Or  rx  with  impf.;  Jos.  2o<>. 


XVI.  3-5  351 

always  n'd;  so  I2«  i62i  20^  Ko.,  i.  p.  393._dvdm]  i6'^  pull  up,  .mt  of  the 
ground,  Is.  3320.  Transitive  only  in  these  places.  — nnan  oy]  the  bar  of  the 
gate,  freq.  named  with  the  doors,   i   S.  23"  Dt.  3^  2  Chr.  8^    sometimes  of 

metal,  i   K.  4}^;    oftener,  no  doubt,  of  wood,  Am.  i^  Nah.  y^. >jd  "^y  -sz^h 

pn3n]  in  front  of;  in  topographical  use  frequently  equivalent  to  ms/  (cf.  SncIt 
left-hand  =  north;  pr;>  right-hand  =  south;  >inN  west,  Jud.  iS'^),  i  K.  ii'^ 
2  K.  23I3  Zech.  144;  Dt.  32^^  34!;  I  S.  157  Jos.  13=^;  i  K.  6^  f  Ez.  42«; 
expressly,  Nu.  21II  (south,  Jos.  iS^^;  west,  Jos.  15**).  Elsewhere,  overlooking, 
Nu.  21-^0  23-^8  Gen.  i^  192s.  In  no  sense  could  a  hill  250  feet  above  the  sea- 
level,  and  less  than  a  mile  from  Gaza,  be  said  to  be  jn^n  >ja  *r;*;  El-Muntar  is, 
moreover,  not  on  the  road  to  Hebron,  or  in  the  direction  of  that  city. 

4-22.  Samson  and  Delilah.  —  Samson  again  falls  in  love  with 
a  Philistine  woman,  in  the  valley  of  Sorek.  She  is  bribed  by  the 
rulers  to  discover  the  secret  of  his  perilous  might.  Three  times 
he  deceives  her,  but  at  last,  tired  of  her  incessant  importunity, 
reveals  the  truth.  While  he  sleeps  in  her  lap,  his  locks  are  shaved 
off;  when  he  awakes  his  strength  has  left  him.  His  enemies  bind 
him  and  put  out  his  eyes ;  he  is  led  off  to  Gaza,  and  set  to  grind 
at  the  mill  in  prison.  —  4.  Aftcrwards'\  loose  connexion;  2  S.  2' 
8^  &c.  —  The  valley  of  Sorek"]  Jerome  notes  a  village,  Cafarsorec, 
in  the  region  of  Eleutheropolis,  near  Saraa  (Zorah),  Samson's 
home.*  The  English  survey  found  ruins  of  Sunk,  three-quarters 
of  an  hour  west  of  Surah  (Zorah),  on  the  north  side  of  Wady 
Surar.f  The  valley  of  Sorek  was  probably  this  great  Wady,  whose 
fertility  is  remarked  by  modern  travellers.  J  Sorek  is  in  Hebrew 
the  specific  name  of  a  choice  variety  of  grape  (Is.  5-  Jer.  2*' 
Gen.  49"),  from  which  the  valley  may  well  have  received  its 
name ;  cf.  the  valley  of  Eshcol  (grape  cluster)  near  Hebron 
(Nu.  12,'^^-).^  Whose  name  was  Delilah']  the  current  etymo- 
logical interpretations  of  the  name,  la?igiashi>ii::,  love-lorn,  or  deli- 
cate, §  are  ludicrously  inapt.  —  5.  The  tyrants  of  the  Philistines] 
see  on  3^.  —  Beguile  him]  14^^  —  And  find  out  by  what  means  his 
strength  is  great,  and  by  what  means  we  may  be  able  to  cope  with 

*  OS^.  issc, ;  cf.  29S7C.  Saraa  is  ten  miles  north  of  Eleutheropolis.  OS^.  29329 
I5ijg.  t  SH'P.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  53. 

+  Gu6rin,  Jiidcc,  ii.  p.  31  f. ;  -^  WP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  3  ;  cf.  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geog., 
p.  218-222. 

\  Ges.,  MV.,  Be.,  al.  For  older  jeiix  d'esprlt  of  the  same  kind  see  Sota,  9b. 
Mythological  explanations,  Stcinthal,  /.17'sych.,  ii.  p.  140  f.;  Wietzke,  Der  biblische 
Simson,  p.  44  f. ;  see  note  below,  at  the  end  of  ch.  i6. 


352  JUDGES 

hun,  that  we  may  secure  him  to  tor7?teiit  him']  not,  wherein  his 
great  strength  lies*  which  destroys  the  correspondence  between 
the  two  clauses,  and  is  grammatically  inexact. f  They  imagine 
that  this  strength  depends  upon  some  secret  means  which  he 
employs,  some  charm  or  amulet.  %  And  we  will  each  give  thee 
eleven  hundred  shekels  of  silver]  probably  each  of  the  five  Philis- 
tine rulers  ^f).  The  number  eleven  hundred  is  a  somewhat 
singular  one  (cf.  1 7-)  ;  Reuss  suggests  that  it  may  mean,  over  a 
thousand.  The  intrinsic  value  of  the  shekel  is  about  sixty  cents  ; 
the  sum  offered  is  meant  to  seem  enormous. 

6-9.  The  first  trial;  the  seven  bowstrings.  —  6.  Delilah 
sets  about  the  task,  and  asks  Samson  what  makes  him  so  strong, 
and  with  what  he  could  be  bound  to  torment  him.  —  ^t-  If  they 
should  bind  me  with  seven  green  bowstrings  which  have  not  been 
dried,  my  strength  would  fail,  and  I  should  be  like  any  other 
man]  seven,  the  charmed  number.  Bowstrings,  cords  made  from 
the  intestines  of  animals  are  probably  meant.  They  were  to  be 
green,  in  which  state  they  were  less  likely  to  fray  or  break  than 
when  they  had  been  dried,  while  at  the  same  time  the  knots  would 
set  much  more  firmly.  —  8.  The  Phihstine  princes  furnish  her 
with  such  cords,  which  she  would  not  have  at  hand  in  the  house, 
and  she  binds  him  with  them.  We  may  imagine  that  this  was 
done  as  if  in  sport,  or  while  he  slept,  as  in  v.^"*-  ^^.  —  9.  And  she 
had  the  Hers  in  wait  ready  in  the  inner  room]  to  seize  Samson  if 
the  experiment  succeeded.  As  it  is  presumed  in  the  following 
trials  that  Samson  was  not  aware  of  the  presence  of  these  men,  we 
have  to  suppose  that  they  did  not  rush  out  of  their  concealment 
at  Delilah's  signal,  but  waited  to  see  whether  the  cords  held  or 
not.  —  The  Philistines  are  upon  thee,  Samson  /  And  he  snapped 
the  bowstrings  as  a  strand  of  tow  snaps  when  it  comes  near  the 
fire]  ht.  sce7its  the  fire ;  without  actual  contact;  cf.  Job  14®,  the 
dried-up  tree  revives  at  the  scent  of  water.  Compare  also  15^^. 
—  So  the  secret  of  his  strength  was  not  disclosed. 

10-12.  The  second  trial ;  the  new  ropes.  — 10.  Thou  hast 
cheated  me  a?id  told  me  falsehoods]  y}^'^^.  — 11.    If  they  should 


•  (BU,  Cler.,  EV.,  al.  mu.  f  Stud.,  Be.  +  Cler. 


XVI.    <^-i; 


.^53 


Imid  mc  fast  7vifh  neiv  ropes,  luitli  which  no  work  has  been  (/one'] 
which  have  never  been  strained  or  chafed  ;  cf.  15''.  For  the  rest, 
cf.  v/.  —  12.  Cf.  v.^  —  Be  snapped  them  off  his  arms  like  a  thread] 
v.^  15"  ;  thready  in  contrast  to  rope.  Observe  how  the  expression 
is  varied  in  the  three  places. 

4.  pnc']  Baer,  or  pnic'  Ven2.,  Norzi,  Mich.;  not  pmr  Ven>.,  Jahlonski,  Van 
der  Hooght.  — 5.  Snj  ihd  no3]  Snj  is  predicate,  the  attributive  adjective 
would  have  the  article;  so  in  the  following  instances,  v.6- »•''.  —  iS  Sou  nc3)] 
Gen.  3225  I  S.  179  Nu.  1380  cf.  Jer.  20^  3822  Obad.';  be  a  match  for  him, 
able  to  overcome  him.  —  -^  jnj]  the  only  instance  of  Kal  impf.  i  pi.  of  this 
vb.  with  a. — 7.  D^nS  onn^]  in>  Ps.  ii2  cf.  in>D  Ps.  21^=*;  Arab,  luatar, 
*  string  of  a  bow,  chord  of  a  lute  ';  Syr.  ithar,  id.  (made  from  the  intestines  of 
sheep,  &c.,  Karmes.  in  PS.  1652).  ^abPSLNO  \  g  ^^  kiTTb.  vevpais  vypais, 
similarly  IL,  Abulw.,  Ra.,  JDMich.,  Stud.,  Be.  <3^^  KK-qixaaiv  vypois  (or  /cXtj/zo- 
rlaiv  vypa7s),  cf.  Fl.  Jos.  K\-qfxa<nv  eirTo.  .  .  .  d/JLTr^Xov*  withes.  So  Ki., 
Vatabl.,  Cler.,  AV.,  RV.,  al.  —  I2nn  nS  nc'N]  Pual,  causative  passive;  have  not 
been  dried.  For  their  proper  use  it  was  indispensable  that  they  be  tlioroughly 
dried,  so  as  not  to  stretch;  for  the  present  purpose  green  gut  was  more 
flexible  to  tie,  the  knots  less  liable  to  slip,  and  the  cord  itself  less  likely  to 
spUt.  —  ">niSm]  v.n.  13  (^^)  jg.  ^^lo^  —  onNn]  human  kind;  the  genus  in  con- 
trast to  the  exceptional  individual;  hence  sometimes  equivalent  to  the  rest  of 
mankind,  other  men  ;  Jer.  322^^  Ps.  73^.  —  8.  iSyi]  Hiph. — 9.  3iNn]  collec- 
tive; cf.  DOiND  925.  —  n-\j7jn]  Is.  i3it  MH.  —  nnn]  Hiph.  of  sense-perception; 
cf.  riNH  &c.  — 10.    nSnn]  'sSn,  Gen.  31'^  Ex»  82^. 

13,  14.  The  third  trial ;   weaving  his  locks  in  the  loom.  — 

She  again  upbraids  him  for  the  deception  he  has  practised  on  her ; 
he  tells  her  that  if  his  hair  were  woven  into  the  web  his  strength 
would  leave  him.  —  In  J^  there  is  a  lacuna  between  v.^''  and  v.", 
as  may  be  clearly  seen  in  RV. :  "And  he  said  unto  her,  If  thou 
weavest  the  seven  locks  of  my  head  with  the  web.  '^  And  she 
fastened  it  with  the  pin,  and  said,"  &c.  The  end  of  what  Samson 
said  and  the  beginning  of  what  Delilah  did  are  lacking ;  cf.  v.'-'- 
uf.  17-19^  n^]^^  Greek  versions  enable  us  to  restore  the  original  text. 
The  difficulties  which  remain  are  due  to  our  imperfect  acquaintance 
with  the  structure  of  the  loom  and  the  process  of  weaving.  In 
particular,  an  error  about  the  nature  and  use  of  the  pin  early  led 
to  misinterpretation,  and  that  to  glosses  in  both  "^  and  the  ver- 
sions.    It  was  not  a  nail  or  peg,  driven  into  the  wall  (Cf))  or  the 


*  Vitigenea  vincula,  Floras,  iii.  20,  4,  cited  by  Schleusner. 

2A 


354  JUDGES 

ground  (3L),  or  stuck  in  the  cloth-beam  of  the  loom  to  keep  it 

from  unrolling,*  but  a  pointed  piece  of  wood  corresponding  to 

the  airdOrj  of  the  Greek  weaver,  which  was  used  to  "  beat  up  "  the 

woof  in  the  chain,  in  order  to  make  its  threads  lie  close  together 

and  form  a  firm  texture. f     We  restore  and  translate,  accordingly  : 

13.    .  .  .  If  thoic  weave  the  seven  braids  of  r?iy  head  along  with  the 

web,  and  beat  up  with  the  pi?i,  my  strength  will  fail  and  J  shall  be 

like  afiy  other  7nan.     14.    So  while  he  was  asleep  Delilah  took  the 

seven  bi-aids  of  his  head,  and  wove  them  into  the  web,  and  beat  np 

with  the  pin,  &c.  %     We  are  to  imagine  the  simplest  kind  of  an 

upright  loom,  §  in  which  an  unfinished  piece  of  stuff  was  standing. 

While  Samson  sleeps  on  the  ground  with  his  head  close  to  the 

loom,  II  Delilah  weaves  his  long  hair  into  the  warp  with  her  fingers, 

and  beats  it  up  tight  and  hard.      He  was  thus  most  securely 

fastened,  in  a  prostrate  position,  to  the  frame  of  the  loom,  the 

posts  of  which  were  firmly  planted  in  the  earth.  —  And  she  said, 

The  Philistines  a7'e  upon  thee,  Samson  I     And  he  awoke  fjvm  his 

sleep,  and  pulled  up  the  loom  and  the  web']   as  he  sprang  up,  he 

pulled  the  posts  of  the  loom  out  of  the  ground  by  the  hair  of  his 

head,  which  was  fast  in  the  web.     The  same  misunderstanding 

which  has  given  rise  to  glosses  in  (3  and  3L  in  the  first  half-verse 

has  here  led  to  the  insertion  in  |^  of  the  words,  the  pin,  before 

the  loom,  which  betrays  that  it  is  a  gloss  by  its  ungrammatical 

construction. 

'i 

13.  "'tt'N-1  niDSnn  joc  ns]  the  braids  in  which  his  long  unruly  locks  were 
plaited  to  keep  them  out  of  the  way;  cf.  v.i^.  Stud,  remarks  that  vrXo/ca/xos 
is  frequently  employed  of  consecrated  locks,  e.g.  Aesch.,  Choeph.  6;  Eurip., 
Bacch.  494;  cf.  also  Pollux,  ii.  §  30.  See  Spencer,  De  legibus  rit.,  iii.  diss.  i. 
c.  6,  §  I.  —  Of  the  words  which  have  accidentally  fallen  out  of  |§  we  have 
two  Greek  versions.      One  of  these  is  represented  by  ^ :  ^    khv  v(pdpris  rds 

*  Ki.,  AV.,  al. 

t  Braun,  De  vestitu  sacerdotum,  1698,  p.  253.  Stud,  feels  constrained  by  n.n>in 
jiN.n  V.14  to  interpret  -ir\  not  of  the  a-nidr)  which  was  used  in  the  upright  loom,  but 
of  the  "lay"  ((crei?,  pecten)  of  a  horizontal  loom;  similarly  Ke.,  Cass.  But  this  is 
on  all  accounts  impossible.  \  See  crit.  note. 

\  Such  looms  are  described  by  Robinson,  BE^.  i.  p.  169 ;  Palmer,  Desert  of  the 
Exodus,  1871,  i.  p.  125;  see  also  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archdologie,  \.  p.  240  f. 

II  Different  representations  of  how  she  got  Samson  there,  PA  OS.,  Oct,  1889, 
p.  178  ;  Doorn2.,  p.  28. 

11  So,  with  slight  variations,  N. 


XVI.  .3-18  355 

eirrd.  cretpAs  *  r^s  KecpaXijs  fxov  ai^u  ry  ScdapiaTi  \  Kal  iyKpoCar,,  r(?  naaaaXi^ 
els  rbv  toTxov,  Kat  faofiaL  ij  eh  tCjv  avOpibiriav  acrOevriu  Kal  iyivcTo  iv  T<p 
KOifxaadai  airbv  Kal  ^Xapeu  Aa\ei8a  rds  fTrrA  aeipas  rrjs  «0a\^s  o.>toO  kuI 
v<pav€u  ev  ry  didafxari  \  Kal  eirrj^eu  t(^  iraffadXip  ets  rbu  toIxou,  Kal  dtrtv  k.t.L 
The  other  is  found  in  its  must  complete  form  in  ^'  and  s :  t  ^a«'  oida-g  rovs 
€WTd  ^oarpvxovs  ttjs  KecpaXrjs  fjiov  ev  UrdaeL  OidanaTos,  Kal  iyKpovaxj^  ry 
TTao-o-dXy  els  rbv  toixov  Kal  iirvcpdvris  is  i-rrl  irrixw,  Kal  daOevijau}  Kal  taofiai 
ws  els  tC)v  dvdpujirujv.  Kal  eKol/uLiaev  avrbu  Aa\i8a,  Kal  ibtdtraTO  tovs  iirrb. 
^ocTpvxovs  TTJs  Kecf)a\i}s  avrov  fierd  ttjs  iKrdaeuis,  Kal  KariKpovffev  iv  t<P 
Traa-o-dXcfj  els  rbp  toixov,  Kal  v(f)ave,  k.tJ.  The  translation  given  in  the  text 
follows  the  former  of  these  two  versions,  which  represents  in  Hehrew :  cm 
\-iM  :  DHNH  injo  \-i>^ni  >n>^ni  nno  P^'pm  |  n-Dcn  d;?  ^^'n-i  no^no  yar  pn  ^j-^np 
'1J1  PDD02  jnsni  1CN-I  PiD't'nD  yjz'  pn  p^^Vt  nppi  ^2yz'2.  The  words  were  dropped 
by  a  scribe  who  skipped  from  npo  in  v.is  to  the  same  word  in  v.i*.  Similarly 
Houbigant,  Be.,  Doom.;  Moore,  PA  OS.  Oct.  1889,  p.  176-180,  where  the 
technical  terms  are  explained,  and  7^/ie  Book  of  Judges  in  Hebrnv,  in  the 
Sacred  Books  of  the  O.T.,  edited  by  P.  Ilaupt.  —  jp.sp  ip-'p]  no  grammatical 
explanation  of  the  article  in  -\->p  is  possible;  the  word  is  a  gloss,  probably 
originally  written  in  the  margin  by  one  who  understood  the  pin  in  v.'-'^''-  '^«  as 
is  done  by  ^  and  IL,  and  missed  here  an  explicit  mention  of  the  pulling  out 
of  the  pin. 

15-22.  Samson  discloses  his  secret,  and  is  shorn  of  his 
strength.  —  15.  How  canst  thou  say,  I  love  thee,  7c<hcn  thou  dost 
not  confide  in  me .?]  cf.  i  K.  9^.  Lit.  seeing  that  thy  heart  (the 
inner  man  with  its  secret  thoughts)  is  fiot  with  me;  cf.  v.'',  "he 
told  her  all  his  heart,"  i.e.  all  his  mind,  all  that  he  knew  about 
the  source  of  his  strength.  Not,  thy  affection  is  not  given  to  me^ 
which  is  in  itself  a  feeble  tautology  and  does  not  accord  with  v.'*'"-. 
—  Thrice  already  thou  hast  cheated  nie'\  v.'"".  — 16.  Cf.  14''. 
She  beset  him  continually  with  her  reproaches  and  importunities, 
and  urged  him  till  his  patience  was  utterly  exhausted  (10"^)  ;  as 
we  might  say  with  an  imitation  of  the  Hebrew  phrase,  he  was  tired 
to  death  of  it.  — 17.  He  told  her  all  his  mind]  v.'^-  ^^ ;  all  that  he 
knew.  —  A  razor  had  never  been  used  on  his  head,  for  he  had 
been  a  religious  devotee  from  infancy  (13'')  ;  if  he  were  shaved, 
his  strength  would  leave  him,  and  he  would  become  as  weak  as 
other  men  ;  cf.  v.'-  ^^-  ^'^  {(3) .  — 18.  Dehlah  saw  that  at  last  he  had 
told  her  the  truth,  and  summoned  the  Philistine  rulers,  assuring 
them  that  they  would  not  be  cheated  again.    They  came,  bringing 


*  See  Pollux,  /.s.c.  f  Most  other  manuscripts  present  a  mixed  text. 


356  JUDGES 

the  money  they  had  promised  (v.^).  — 19.  She  put  him  to  sleep 
on  her  lap  (of.  v.^''  (3),  and  calling  a  man  who  was  in  readiness, 
had  him  shave  off  the  seven  braids  of  Samson's  hair.  According 
to  5^,  she  shaved  it  off  herself;  but  then  it  is  not  apparent  why 
the  man  is  mentioned  at  all ;  it  is  not  satisfactory  to  suppose  that 
he  merely  handed  her  the  razor.*  Either  the  verb  must  be  taken 
causatively,!  which  is  scarcely  warranted  by  usage  or  construction, 
or  the  text  must  be  emended  to  read,  he  shaved,  &c.  —  And  she 
began  to  to?'f?ient  him,  and  his  stfr?igth  departed  from  hii?i]  from 
the  words,  /  will  shake  myself  fi^ee,^  \?^,  we  are  probably  to  under- 
stand that  she  bound  him ;  cf.  v.^.  %  #  renders,  he  began  to  be 
brought  low,  §  which  reading  is  preferred  by  Doorninck ;  but  the 
passive  is  in  itself  less  forcible,  and  the  active  is  supported  by  v.^ 
How  she  tormented  him  is  not  related ;  Jerome  interprets,  coepit 
abigcj'e  eum,  et  a  se  repellere.  Perhaps  the  words  refer  merely  to 
her  alarming  cry,  the  Philistines  a7'e  upon  thee.  —  20.  He  awoke 
froj?i  his  sleep,  and  thought,  I  shall  get  off  as  I  have  done  time 
and  time  again~\  escape,  go  free ;  ||  not,  go  out  as  at  other  times^ 
—  I  will  shake  myself  free'\  from  the  bonds  with  which  Delilah  had 
secured  him  ;  **  or  from  the  Philistines.ft  Others  interpret,  I  will 
shake  myself  awake.  %%  —  For  he  did  not  know  that  Yahweh  had 
departed  from  hi}n~\  see  i  S.  i8^^  28^^ :  it  would  be  the  same  thing 
to  say,  the  spirit  of  Yahweh  (i  S.  16").  If  we  would  understand 
the  author's  meaning,  we  cannot  conceive  his  words  too  con- 
cretely ;  cf.  v.^^*',  his  strength  departed  f-otn  him.  —  21.  The  Phil- 
istines seized  him  and  bored  out  his  eyes']  i  S.  11^  Nu.  i6^^  The 
Assyrian  monuments  represent  the  blinding  of  captives  with  a 
sharp  instrument ;  §§  cf.  2  K.  25^  — They  took  their  prigioner  down 
to  Gaza,  their  chief  city.  Jewish  teachers  saw  a  retributive  justice 
in  this  :  in  Gaza  he  first  went  whoring ;  therefore  in  Gaza  he  was 
a  prisoner.  |1 1|  —  And  made  him  fast  with  bronze  shackles']  2  S.  3^* 
2  K.  25^.  —  And  he  was  employed  in  grinding  in  the  prison]  turn- 

*  Ki.  2".  t  Ki.  10. 

X  We  might  almost  be  tempted  to  conjecture  that  the  words,  she  bound  h'mi,  have 
been  accidentally  omitted.  \  Except  B.         ||  So,  rightly,  Ki.,  Reuss,  Kittel. 

H  EV.,  with  most  comrn.;  Schm.  interprets,  go  out  to  fight  with  the  Philistines. 
**  a  Lyra,  Be.  ft  Schm.  ++  Ki. 

\\  Botta,  Monument  de  Ninive,  pi.  ii8 ;  reproduced,  DD^.  s.v.  "  Punishments." 
nil  Sota,  9b;  see  the  whole  passage. 


XVT.    10    22 


35; 


ing  the  handmill.  This  was  hard  and  menial  labonr  (Is.  47=)  ; 
in  the  household  generally  done  by  slave  women.  Anicjng  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  being  put  to  work  at  the  mill  was  a  not 
uncommon  and  much-dreaded  punishment  of  slaves,  to  which 
there  are  many  references  in  the  comic  poets.*  Freemen  were 
also  punished  in  this  way  for  slight  offences.f  —  The  older  com- 
mentators compare  the  story  of  Nisus  of  Megara,  whose  daughter, 
Scylla,  plucked  out  while  he  slept  the  purple  hair  in  the  middle 
of  his  head  on  which  his  life  depended.  J — 22.  His  hair  began 
to  grow  as  soon  as  H  was  shaved  off~\  this  verse  looks  forward  to 
v.-^*'^-,  where  Samson  does  the  mightiest  feat  of  all.  The  story 
makes  his  strength  inseparable  from  his  sacred  locks  :  when  he  is 
shorn  of  them  it  leaves  him ;  when  it  is  restored  to  him  they  must 
have  grown  again. 

16.  iS  n|-)">xn]  the  usual  construction  of  this  verli;  cf.  14^"'  (accus.). — 
CDTi  Vd]  perpetually,  constantly  ;  Gen,  43^  I  S.  18-^  23^''  Jos.  4-'»,  frcti.  in  Dt. 
and  Jer.  —  ini'fNni  ^]  Pi.  The  vb.  is  common  in  Syr.;  'straiten,  press,  dis- 
tress'; synonym  of  'a^'tq  (=Heb.  \>-'^'r\).  —  mcV]  to  the  point  of  death. — 
17.  'y\  \"inSj  cn]  on  the  form  of  the  cond.  sent,  see  Dr'^.,  p.  177  f.;  cf.  v.^-  "•  '3 
(imperf.  in  protasis).  — 18.  n'?  n^jn  ij]  Qere  -i^,  with  all  the  versions  and  many 
codd.  and  edd.  of  |i]  (De  Rossi).  The  Kethib  is  mechanical  repetition  of 
the  preceding  rh  T'jn  o.  —  ni'?x  iS;;!]  the  perf.  consec.  is  impossible  (against 
Be.) ;  read  i'?yi,  which  a  number  of  codd.  have;  Stud.,  Ke.  — 19.   i^rf  >?]]  Pi-* 

—  n-ian^  Sj?]  (^apslmo  g  ^  ^^,^  /xiaov,  i.e.  ^■•3,  which  Doom,  adopts.  —  N"«i"'.~i 
c-inS]  idiomatic  determination,  the  man  called  for  the  purpose;    see  on  8^. 

—  ®  S  £  rbv  Kovpia  (^  alone  &v5pa),  IL<S  tonsorem  ;  the  context  suggested  the 
more  specific  term.  The  Hebrew  text  lacks  here  something  of  its  usual  dcfi- 
niteness.  —  nSjn]  we  should  probably  emend  nVj^i.  —  inuyV  Sn.-i]  ©apslmno 
S  Z  KoX  TJp^aro  TaireLvovcrOai,  prob.  pronouncing  the  inf.  as  Pual,  p.'":?'?  SnM,  or 
poss.  n^JV^  (M  Ex.  io3);  adopted  by  Doom.,  Kautzsch.— 20.  c;d3  nxs 
□;?D3]  2O30-31  Nu.  24I  I  S.  3^'^  2o'^5.  cf.  or 3  or,  i:nn3  irnh,  njc-a  7\:z\  &c.  On 
d;7D  see  on  15^.  —  iv^ni]  connected  in  the  same  tense  with  vS-xx,  since  not  two 
consecutive  acts  are  meant,  but  two  simultaneous  moments  in  one  act.  With 
the  vb.  cf.  Ilithpa.  Is.  52-,  DSm"-  os'  ^cip  idj'D  ^-^yjpn.  Ni.  is  elsewhere 
(Ps.  10923  Job  38i3)§  passive  to  Pi.  (Ex.  142^  Ps.  1361^^).      Perhaps,  in  the 


*  See  Marquardt,  Privatleben  der  Romer,  1879,  p.  179,  405;  Plaut.,  Dacch.  781 ; 
Terent.,  Phortn.  i.  2,  20;  Atidr.  i.  2,  28;  &c. 

t  Cod.  T/icodos.  ix.  40,  3.  5.  6;  Socrates,  hist,  eccles.,  v.  18. 

+  Apollod.,  Dibliotheca,  iii.  15,  8^2;  Ovid,  Metani.  viii.  8  ff.  77  fT. ;  cf.  the  sini;:,ir 
story  of  Pterelaos  and  his  golden  hair,  Apollod.,  ii.  4,  7  ^^  4 ;  ii.  4.  5  ^f  5  f- 

\  In  the  latter  it  is  perhaps  a  gloss  ;  see  Siegfried. 


358  JUDGES 

absence  of  a  complement,  it  should  be  taken  here  in  the  sense,  *  arouse  myself 
to  activity,  exert  myself  (K,  Ki.,  Cass.);  cf.  MH.  -\-;n  (Levy,  NHWb.  iii. 
p.  414). — pi""  ^  Nim]  for  he  did  not  realize;  circumst.  clause.  —  cncnja] 
the  dual,  as  we  speak  of  a  pair  of  handcuffs,  —  |niio  %-i"'i]  lit.  he  became  a 
grinder,  \\.  was  his  permanent  occupation.  —  DniDsn  noi]  here  and  in  v.^o 
Qere  D-'mDNn,  prob.  intended,  not  as  plur.  of  niDX,  which  would  be  trivial  and 
at  variance  with  the  principle  of  the  correction  in  Gen.  392'^,  but  of  mON  (15^"^); 
cf.  -iiDNH  ro  Jer.  37^^,  'house  of  bonds,'  not,  *  of  the  bound.'  In  any  case 
the  correction  is  unnecessary.  —  nox"^]  Pi.  only  of  growth  of  hair,  2  S.  lo^ 
Ez.  16";   Kal,  Lev.  133^. 

23-25.   The  Philistines  celebrate  their  triumph  at  Gaza. — 

23.  The  rulers  of  the  five  Philistine  cantons  (3^)  assemble  at 
Gaza  to  offer  a  great  sacrifice  to  their  god,  Dagon.  Dagon  was 
worshipped  by  all  the  Phihstines  ;  *  we  hardly  know  enough  about 
their  religion,  however,  to  affirm  that  he  was  their  national  god,  in 
the  sense  in  which  Chemosh,  for  example,  was  the  god  of  Moab. 
Of  the  character  and  worship  of  Dagon  we  know  only  what  is  to 
be  gathered  from  the  passage  before  us  and  from  i  S.  5.  Accord- 
ing to  Philo  Byblius,  who  gives  him  a  place  in  his  Phoenician 
theogony,  he  was  a  god  of  agriculture,  Zei;?  a.p6Tpio<i ;  but  this  is 
probably  only  an  etymological  interpretation  of  the  name.  Another 
etymology  derives  the  name  from  the  Hebrew  dag,  '  fish.'  Since 
David  Kimchi  (died  about  1235  a.d.),  it  has  been  the  common 
opinion  that  the  idol  of  Dagon  spoken  of  in  i  S.  5*  had  the  form 
of  a  man  from  the  waist  up,  while  below  the  waist  it  was  in  the 
likeness  of  a  fish ;  but  this  theory  is  probably  no  more  than  an 
ingenious  attempt  to  explain  the  corrupt  text  of  i  S.  5*  by  the  aid 
of  etymology  ;  see  crit.  note.  —  And  for  festivities\  lit.  fo7'  rejoic- 
ing. Their  rejoicing  before  the  god  was  the  demonstrative  expres- 
sion of  their  gratitude  (cf.  Dt.  12^-- ^^  16"  27^  Lev.  23^°  Neh.  8^0-12)^ 
It  is  going  quite  beyond  the  evidence,  however,  to  infer  from  this 
celebration,  as  some  scholars  are  inclined  to  do,  that  the  worship 
of  Dagon  had  always  a  joyous  and  festive  character. —  Our  god 
has  given  Samson,  our  enemy,  into  our  power']  just  as  the  Israel- 
ites would  have  said  under  like  circumstances;  cf  11^^  Dt.  3^ 
Mesha's  inscription,  1.  14  f.,  19,  32,  &c.  —  24.    Whe7i  the  people 


*  There  was  a  temple  of  Dagon  at  Ashdod ;   i  S.  5^^-  i  Mace.  io84  ii4.     Places 
bearing  the  name  Beth-dagon  represent  other  seats  of  his  worship ;  see  note. 


XVI.  23-25  359 

smv  him,  they  set  up  a  sho7it  in  honour  of  their  ^od^  the  vcrl)  is 
the  same  which  enters  into  the  composition  of  Hallehijah,  'raise 
the  obHgatory  shout  or  song  in  honour  of  Jah  ' ;  see  on  9'-'^. — 
For  they  said,  &'c.~\  these  are  not  the  words  of  the  hattel  shout, 
which  was  probably  a  standing  formula  consisting  of  the  names 
and  honorific  epithets  of  the  god,  but  an  improvised  hymn  setting 
forth  the  reason  and  meaning  of  their  praises.  The  hymn  is 
formed  upon  a  single  rhyme,  five  times  repeated,  a  thing  very 
common  in  Arabic,  but  of  which  there  are  not  many  examples  in 
the  Old  Testament : 

nathan  elohcnu  beyadeuTi 

eth  oyebenu, 

we-eth  niachar'ih  arst'nu, 

wa-asher  hirbah  eth  chalalenv  ;  * 

lit.  Our  god  has  given  into  our  hands  our  enemx,  and  the  devastator 
of  our  country,  atid  the  fnan  who  multiplied  our  slain  ;  the  refer- 
ence is  obviously  to  i^-^ff-^ff-.  —  25.  And  when  they  were  in  high 
spirits']  18-*^  19^;  the  phrase  is  often  used  of  exhilaration  from  the 
effects  of  wine,  i  S.  25"''  2  S.  13-^  They  order  Samson  to  be 
brought  from  the  prison  to  amuse  them.  —  I/e  made  sport  before 
them]  perhaps,  as  Milton  imagines,  by  harmless  exhibitions  of  his 
strength.  When  he  had  thus  amused  them  for  a  while,  they 
let  him  stand  between  the  columns  to  rest.  For  surmises  about 
the  construction  of  the  temple,  see  on  v.^'". 

23.  There  was  a  Beth-dagon  in  the  Judaean  Lowland  (Jos.  I5'*0»  ^^^ 
another  on  the  boundary  of  Asher,  probably  in  the  coast  plain  south  of  Carmel 
(Jos.  19-^).  An  inscription  of  Sennacherib  mentions  a  IJtt-daganna  in  the 
vicinity  of  Joppa  {Prism  Inscr.  ii.  60) ;  Eusebius  locates  a  village  named 
Kcfar-dagon  between  Diospolis  and  Jamnia,  now  Dagun  (^PEF.  Qu.  St., 
1874,  p.  279).  A  Beit  Degan  exists  also  SE.  of  Naliulus  (Rob.,  BR',  ii. 
p.  232,  280).  It  is  possible  that  some  echo  of  the  description  which  classic 
authors  give  of  Derceto,  worshipped  on  the  same  coast,  may  have  reached 
Kimchi's  ears;  not  a  few  more  modern  scholars  have  identilied  Dagon  with 
Derceto.  Kimchi's  representation  of  Dagon  as  half  man,  half  fish,  is  not 
derived  from  Jewish  tradition;  neither  the  ancient  versions,  Jerome,  nor  the 
Talmud,  know  anything  of  such  a  figure.  Rashi  describes  the  image  as  a  fish ; 
RLbG.  as  a  man;  Abarb.  as  fish  from  the  waist  up,  but  with  hands  and  feet 
like  a  man.    The  combination  of  Dagon  with  the  man-fish  'HHkuv  of  Berossus 

*  Pronounce  ch  as  in  Scotch  '  loch.' 


360  JUDGES 

has  no  better  foundation  than  the  accidental  and  incomplete  resemblance  of 
the  names.  What  the  figures  of  men-fish  from  Assyrian  sources,  such,  e.£:  as 
are  reproduced  by  Schrader  in  Riehm's  HWB.  s.v.  (with  the  legend,  "The 
fish-god  Dagon"!),  represent,  is  unknown.  It  is  certain  that  they  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  Babylonian  god,  Dagan,  whose  name  is  usually  con- 
joined with  those  of  Anu  and  "Ninib."  Whether  Dagan  is  connected  in 
any  way  with  the  Phihstine  Dagon  is  not  clear.  See  further,  art.  "  Dagon  " 
in  New  Bible  Dictionary  (A.  &  C.  Black),  where  the  literature  will  be  found. 
—  nnstt'Vi]  fem,  nomen  vei'bi,  Ki. — 24.  an'-nSx  nx  ih'^n^i]  besides  the  authors 
cited  above  (p.  256  f.),  see  Holzinger,  ZATW.  ix.  p.  104.  In  the  sense, 
'extol,'  the  verb  is  employed  also  of  men,  e.g.  Gen.  12^^  Cant.  6^  Prov.  272&C.; 
this  is  probably  secondary.  —  U^'^n]  plur.  written  defectively  (Ki.) ;   cf.  9*0.  — 

25.  dVlOo]  the  consonant  text  would  be  read  nvj  o  (perf.,  i  S.  1 616-23,  Bo. 
§  1 133,  i);  the  margin  substitutes  i\^2  (inf.),  construction  as  in  2  S.  I3"^8^ 
l-'O  pjr:x  iS  3rJD,  Esth.  i^O;  Dr.,  TBS.  p.  234;  Stud.  The  editors  seem  to 
have  ignored  the  perfect.  K6.,  i.  p.  445,  recognizes  only  pi.  ob,  and  p.  447 
seems  to  deny  the  inf.  altogether.  This  is  one  of  eight  cases  in  which  the 
text  has  two  words,  for  vj^hich  the  margin  reads  one;  Ochla  we-Ochla,  No.  100, 
Mass.  on  2  Chr.  34^.  —  pnr-'i]  jussive;  cf.  pni*''i  just  below  and  note  there. — 
Dn'DNH]  see  note  on  v.^i.  —  ?^Y.l\  P^^  Ez.  23^-;  with  these  two  exceptions 
only  in  Pentateuch;  cf.  pn"'  just  above  and  v.^^.  See  Konig,  Einl.  in  das 
A.  7".,  p.  151;  Wright,  Comparative  Graminar,  p.  60.  —  a"iniD>'n  pn  invv  nir^'M] 
play  on  the  word.  The  doubling  of  the  vi  in  ma;?  is  inorganic,  and  merely 
preserves  the  preceding  a;   cf.  Arab,  'amiid. 

26-30.   Samson  pulls  down  the  house  upon  their  heads.  — 

26.  Samson  asked  the  attendant  who  held  his  hand,  to  guide 
him  in  his  blindness,  to  place  him  so  that  he  could  rest  himself  by 
leaning  against  the  columns.  The  attendant  was  hardly  a  lad 
(EV.)  ;  we  naturally  think  of  a  servant  attached  to  the  prison. — 
Let  me  touch  the  columns  on  which  the  house  is  suppo7'ted,  that  I 
may  lean  against  them']  the  two  middle  columns,  v.-^.  —  27.  No7v 
the  building  was  full  of  the  7tien  and  wome7t,  and  all  the  tyrants 
of  the  Philistines  were  there  ;  and  on  the  roof  were  about  three 
thousand  meii  and  women,  looking  on  at  Samson'' s  playing]  the 
text  seems  to  require  us  to  imagine  that  the  exhibition  of  Samson 
took  place  in  the  open  court  of  the  temple  of  Dagon.  The  house 
may  then  be  supposed  to  have  been  a  hall  of  columns,  open  toward 
the  court,  or  the  prostyle  of  the  temple  itself.  Spectators  of  rank 
crowd  the  house  ;  multitudes  of  others  throng  upon  the  roof,  from 
which  they  overlook  the  court.  When  Samson  has  sufficiently 
amused  them,  he  is  placed  near  the  columns  in  front  of  the  house, 


XVI.  26-27  3^1 

or  is  led  into  the  interior,  i)crha})s  in  order  that  the  magnates 
gathered  in  it  may  have  a  nearer  view  of  him.  He  grasj)s  the  two 
middle  columns,  and  by  dislodging  them  brings  down  the  whole 
edifice  in  ruins.  No  little  ingenuity  has  been  expended  in  the 
effort  to  conceive  a  method  of  architectural  construction  by  which 
this  might  be  made  to  seem  possible.*  There  is  some  reason  in 
the  text  itself  to  suspect  that  the  three  thousand  men  and  women 
on  the  roof  are  an  addition  to  the  original  narrative,  exaggerating 
the  catastrophe.  If  that  be  the  case,  the  author  may  have  repre- 
sented the  Philistine  aris'tocracy  assembled  in  the  banqueting  hall 
of  the  temple,t  the  roof  of  which  can  very  well  be  imagined  to 
have  been  supported  on  a  pair  of  central  pillars.  Such  a  con- 
struction was  suggested  by  J.  B.  Wideburg :  J  potuerunt  .  .  . 
quatuor  trabes  primariae,  quibus  reliquae  minores  insertae  binis 
columnis  in  medio  erectis  imponi,  quo  facto,  subtractisque  de- 
inceps  columnis,  necesse  fuit  trabes  quoque  impositas  labi,  quarum 
lapsum  mox  totius  aedificii  ruina  consequi  debuit. 

26.  n>'j]  'servant';  19II  i  S.  9^  and  often.  —  ^pin  nn^jn]  n':n  with  ace.  is 
prop,  'put  down,  leave'  in  a  place;  sometimes  implying  previous  removal 
thither,  'bring  and  leave';  Gen.  2^5  Ez.  37^*  Is.  14I;  so  here  (Cler.,  Reuss). 
Suffer  me  that  I  may  feel  (EV.,  with  iLS,  al.  mu.)  would  be  ^"^  nn'jn,  and 
would  be  naturally  construed  with  the  inf.  or  with  the  cohort,  i  sing,  (.••h-::'' 
or  rrrNi.  Others,  let  vie  go,  release  my  hand;  so  C  Ke.,  Cass.,  Kittel; 
cf.  Schm'.  Let  me  rest  (©apslm  g  {.,  Be.)  would  also  be  >^  'jn.  — ^jrc'ni]  Qere 
"•j'^icm  as  from  t:'i-,  §  by  the  not  infrequent  confusion  of  r7  with  r;*;  cf. 
^Vk^•>c>  Ps.  115'.  The  sense  requires  ^;rc:^;.  (•-•::'::);  see  Ko.,  i.  p.  360.  The 
Qere  may  intend  to  hint  at  a  double  sense,  let  me  remove  the  columns  (Mi.  2"); 
cf.  Ki.  —  27.  c^i'jm  avj-j^n  nh-a  r^^m]  the  article  may  perhaps  be  explained, 
those  whom  the  occasion  brought  together;  but  this  does  not  seem  quite 
natural.  Graver  objection  lies  against  the  article  in  S'N'in  below,  which 
hardly  admits  of  a  grammatical  explanation.  ||  These  difficulties  appear  to 
have  been  created  by  the  intrusion  of  the  intermediate  clauses,  the  removal  of 
which  leaves  a  complete  and  faultless  sentence :  D^Nin  D>a'jni  o^cjNn  n'?d  noni 


*See  Schm.,  Cler.,  Stud.,  Cass,;  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  Parentalia,  p.  359 
(quoted  in  Rosenmiiller,  Das  alte  und  ticue  Morgenland,  iii.  p.  56  f.)  ;  Faber. 
Arckdologie,  p.  444 ;  Stark.  Gaza,  p.  332-334. 

t  So  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  8,  12  §  314-316.  Such  a  room  was  found  at  much  smaller 
sanctuaries  ;  see  i  S.  9--. 

XMathesis  biblica,  Jena.  1730;  quoted  by  Rosenm.,  Scholia,  ad  he:  cf.  also 
Wren,  cited  above,  note  *.  ^^  111^;  common  vb.  in  Syr. 

II  If  this  stood  alone,  it  would  be  properly  regarded  as  dittograpliy  ;  cf.  ©AI'SLMO. 


362  JUDGES 

]'Z'i2'<y  pin"'3.  In  this  text  a  scribe  or  editor  may  have  missed  a  mention  of 
the  D"|J-\D  (who  were  present,  v.^o),  and  introduced  them  somewhat  awk- 
wardly.* The  three  thousand  men  and  women  on  the  roof,t  of  whom 
nothing  whatever  is  said  in  the  sequel  (v.^^),  may  be  a  still  later  exaggeration 
of  the  ruin  Samson  wrought;  compare  the  further  exaggeration  in  Thdt. 
(^quaest.  22),  three  thousand  men  and  many  times  more  women.  This  resto- 
ration, which  is  suggested  and  commended  on  purely  grammatical  grounds, 
would  relieve  the  chief  difficulty  in  imagining  the  scene  described  in  v.-^-^o. 

28.  Samson  prays  for  one  moment  of  his  old  strength.  —  O 
Lord  Yahwehf  re?nefnber  me,  and  give  me  strength  but  this  once, 
O  God,  that  I  may  avenge  myself  on  the  Philistines  for  one  of  my 
two  eyes']  Ht.  a  vengeance  of  one  of  my  two  eyes.  So  the  Hebrew 
text  must  be  translated  :  the  greatest  evil  he  could  inflict  on  them 
would  be  but  partial  retribution  for  the  loss  of  his  sight.  %  The 
ancient  versions  render,  in  o?ie  act  of  vengeance  for  my  two  eyes ;  § 
others  translate,  at  once.  ||  There  is  a  grim  humour  in  the  words 
as  we  read  them  in  '^,  which  is  altogether  in  character  and 
may  very  well  be  original ;  see  crit.  note.  —  29.  Samson  grasped 
the  two  middle  cohimns  on  which  the  house  was  stipp07'ted,  a?id 
braced  himself  against  them,  one  with  his  right  hand,  the  other 
with  his  left]  the  last  words  belong  to  both  verbs  ;  primarily  to  the 
first.  Others,  through  a  misapprehension  of  the  context,  interpret, 
"  the  . .  .  columns  on  which  the  house  was  supported  and  on  which 
it  rested,"  which  is  mere  tautology.  —  30.  Let  me  die  myself  with 
the  Philistines']  lit.  let  my  soul  die.  The  soul  is  not  in  the  Old 
Testament,  as  it  is  in  our  thought,  the  immortal  in  man.  It  is 
the  breath-like  something  {iiefesh,  cf.  if/vx^)  which  goes  out  and 
vanishes  when  he  dies.  There  is  nowhere  a  suggestion  that  the 
soul  survives  the  man  whose  life  it  was ;  the  inhabitants  of  the 
nether- world  {sheol)  are  not  souls  but  shades  {refaim,  dSwXa). — 
I/e  thrust  with  all  his  might]  we  are  probably  to  imagine  that, 
standing  between  the  two  columns,  he  pushed  them  apart  by 
extending  his  arms.^  Others  render,  boiejed,  supposing  that  he 
put  his  arms  around  the  columns  and,  bearing  forward,  carried 


*  Observe  also  nctt'  for  D"',  of  which  there  is  no  other  instance  in  Jud. 

t  (PB  J,5  eTTTa/coCTioi  ;    cod,  237  COnflatC,  to?  Tpto-xiAiot  eTTTa/cocrtoi. 

XJer.  Sola,  i.  8,  fol.  17'> ;   Ra.,  Ki.,  Schm.,  Bottch.,  Stud.,  Ges.  Thes.,  p.  911, 
Be.,  Ke.  ^S  ©IL,  Cler.,  Reuss,  Kittel,  al. 

11  AV..  RV.,  after  older  scholars.  Cass.  H  Be. 


xvT.  28-31  ^r)^ 

them  with  him ;  others  still,  he  lifted*  or  pulled.^  unth  all  his 
might;  but  none  of  these  seems  to  accord  as  well  with  the  mean- 
ing of  the  verb,  and  with  v."-^-*,  as  the  interpretation  adopted  above. 
—  The  house  fell  on  the  rulers  and  all  the  people  that  were  in  //] 
nothing  is  said  about  the  flite  of  the  multitude  on  the  roof;  see 
on  V.-'.  —  So  in  his  death  he  killed  more  of  the  Philistines  than  he 
had  in  his  life  ;  it  was  the  climax  of  his  achievement.  Clericus 
quotes  Tacitus's  account  of  the  collapse  of  the  wooden  amphithea- 
tre at  Fidenae,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  in  which  fifty  thousand 
persons  are  said  to  have  been  buried  in  the  ruins.  X 

28.  n-n  nyiDn  in]  Gen.  iS'^^  jud.  6^^  cf.  15-'^  16^".  oyo  is  elsewhere  uni- 
formly fern.  (2  S.  23S  is  corrected  in  the  margin) ;  nrn  may  he  a  later  inser- 
tion.—  ■•rj?  '•nc'D  nns-Ci-ij  nppjvxi]  with  the  construction  cf.  Lev.  26^  Ps.  79'*^ 
Jer.  50'^^  51^1.  (B  iKdiKifia-u)  iKdlK-rja-iv  fiiav  (^^  dvTawddoaiu  filav),  it  /ro  amis- 
sione  duorum  lunnnu>n  .unam  tdtionetn  recipiavi ;  but  if  we  should  adojit 
this  interpretation  and  emend,  inN  Dpj  or  phn  nripj,  we  should  involve  our- 
selves in  difficulty  with  the  preposition  in  \itt'?:,  for  which  in  this  sense  we 
should  expect  S>'  (Stud.).  Doom,  omits  the  numeral. §  —  v^U'r)  (.~)  is  regular 
(Ki.);  the  /  is  affected  by  the  preceding  reduced  vowel;  cf.  Kci.  ii.  p.  208. — 
29.  no'^-'i  ^]  Niph.  Ru.  3^  Job  6^8 1_  ^hg  exegetical  tradition,  *  lay  hold  of, 
embrace,'  is  probably  founded  on  the  context.  In  Arab,  lafata  means  '  twist, 
■wring,'  e.g.  a  man's  neck;  ^alfatti  is  a  man  with  a  powerful  grasp,  who  hoists, 
or  wrings,  him  who  grapples  with  him  (Lane).  The  verb  here  may  have  the 
sense, '  seize  with  a  firm  grasp.'  —  ani^>'  "i^D^i]  the  subject  is  Samson  ((5-^ "'•  T.% 
Schm.,  Cler.,  Ke.,  Cass.,  Be.,  SS.,  al.  mu.),  he  braced  himself  against  the  col- 
nmns^  for  the  supreme  effort.  The  construction  which  makes  .10  subject  is 
defended  by  De  Wette,  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  iv.  1831,  p.  306;   Stud. 

31.  Samson's  kinsmen  recover  his  body  and  bury  him  in  the 
ancestral  tomb.  —  His  kinsmen  and  all  his  family~\  lit.  brethren 
^.\-\(\  father's  house;  see  on  9^ — Between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol~\ 
on  Zorah  see  on  13- ;  Eshtaol,  usually  named  with  Zorah  (Jos. 
15"'  19"*^  Jiitl.  13^  1 8--^^),  according  to  Eusebius  ten  miles  north  of 
Eleutheropolis,  ||  is  identified  with  the  small  modern  village  EshiYa, 
thirteen  English  miles  N.  of  Beit  Gibrin,  and  near  Surah  (Zorah ).^ 
Here  Samson's  burial  place  was  shown  in  later  times,  in  the  family 
tomb  of  the  Manoahites ;  cf.  8^^  12'  10^-'  i2^^\  —  IIe  had  judged 
Israel  twe7ity  years']  see  on  the  chronology,  Introduction,  §  7. 

*  (pB.  f  (r=..  +  Anttal.  iv.  62.  \  It  is  lacking  in  S. 

II  OS"^.  255s7.        H  See  Guerin,  Judee,  ii.  p.  12  fT.;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ill.  p.  25. 


364  JUDGES 

Mythical  interpretations  of  the  story  of  Samson.  — The  similarity,  in  several 
particulars,  between  the  story  of  Samson  and  that  of  Herakles  was  early 
noticed;  see  Euseb.,  chron.  canon,  ed.  Schoene,  ii.  p.  54  (some  compare  his 
deeds  with  those  of  Herakles);  Philastr.,  de  haeres.,  c.  8;  Qeorg.  Syncellus, 
chronogr.,  ed.  Dindorf,  i.  p.  309  (Kara  ro<iTov%  Toi)5  xP^vovs  'Za/xxJ/wv  ^v,  6  Trap' 
"EXX-rjai  ^owfievos  'Hpa/cX'^s).*  Many  modern  writers  have  made  the  same 
comparison,  and  inferred  that  Samson  is  the  Hebrew  counterpart  of  the 
Phoenician  Melqart,  the  Greek  Herakles;  and  that  the  story  of  his  deeds  was 
either  originally  a  cognate  myth,  or  has  taken  up  numerous  mythical. elements. 
See  G.  L.  Bauer,  Hebraische  Mythologie,  1802,  ii.  p.  86  ff.;  «  G.  Kaiser,  Comm. 
in  priora  Geneseos  capita,  1829,  p.  186  ff.;  Brockhausen,  "  Simson  als  Baal- 
Herakles,"  A^malen  d.  TheoL,  1833;  »  Vatke,  ^///^j/.  Theologie,  1835,  P-  369  f-i 
E.  Meier,  Poet.  National- Liter atur  d.  Hehr.,  1856,  p.  103  ff.;  Roskofif,  Die 
Sitnsonsage  tmd der  Her acles7Jiy thus,  i860;  Steinthal,  "  Die  Sage  von  Simson," 
Zeitschr.  fiir  Volkerpsychologie,  ii.  1862,  p.  129-178;  Engl,  translation,  "The 
Legend  of  Samson,"  in  Goldziher's  Mythology  among  the  Hebrews.,  transl.  by 
R.  Martineau,  1877,  p.  392-446;  Seinecke,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel,  i.  1876, 
p.  253-257;  M.  Schultze,  Handbuch  d.  ebrdischen  Mythologie,  1876,  p.  121, 
147,  187,  &c,;  E,  Wietzke,  Der  bihlische  Simson  der  aegypt.  Horus-Ra,  1888; 
"The  Samson  Saga  and  the  Myth  of  Herakles,"  Westminster  Review,  cxxi. 
1884,  Apr.,  p.  305-328;  G.  A.  Wilken,  De  Simsonsage,  1888;  »  R.  Sonntag, 
Der  Richter  Siinson  ;  ein  historisch-??iythischer  Versnch,  1890.^  —  The  older 
writers  contented  themselves  with  drawing  out  the  parallels  to  the  Herakles 
myth :  f  each  begins  his  career  of  adventure  by  strangling  a  lion;  each  perishes 
at  last  through  the  machinations  of  a  woman;  J  each  chooses  his  own  death. 
Samson's  fox-catching  is  compared  with  the  capture  of  the  Erymanthian  boar, 
the  Cretan  bull,  the  hind  of  Artemis;  the  spring  which  is  opened  at  Lehi  to 
quench  his  thirst,  with  the  warm  baths  which  Sicilian  nymphs  open  to  refresh 
the  weary  Herakles;  §  the  carrying  off  of  the  gates  of  Gaza  reminds  some  of 
the  setting  up  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  |1  others  of  Herakles's  descent  to  the 
nether-world.^  Meier  and  Ewald  even  discover  that  Samson  has  exactly 
twelve  labours,  like  Herakles  (in  late  systems).  Steinthal  not  only  identifies 
Samson  with  Melqart-PIerakles,  but  attempts  to  explain  the  whole  story  as  a 
solar  myth,  by  a  thorough-going  application  of  the  method  which  Max  MUller 
and  his  school  introduced  in  Aryan  mythology.  He  is  followed  in  the  main 
by  Goldziher,  Seinecke,  and  Jul.  Braun  {Naturgesch.  der  Sage,  1864,  i.  p.  272, 


*  The  author  goes  on  to  recite  some  of  the  deeds  of  Herakles;  adding  lliat 
some  put  Herakles  rather  earlier,  others  say  that  he  lived  longer  than  Samson. 

t  See  Serarius  (1609),  quoted  by  Rosenmiiller,  Scholia,  p.  357  f. 

X  The  attempt  has  even  been  made  to  connect  the  names  Delilah  and  Deianira 
(Nork,  E.  Meier). 

§  Diod.  Sic.,  iv.  23. 

II  R.  Meier. 

H  Steinthal.    On  these  comparisons  see  esp.  Roskoff,  p.  100  ff. 


xvri.-wiii. 


3^5 


442  o).*  Wietzke  identifies  Samson  with  the  "  K^'yptian  I  Icraklcs,"  Horus-Ka. 
The  Philistine  women  all  represent  Sheol-"Tafcnet ";  the  Philistines,  with 
whom  he  is  in  perpetual  strife,  are  the  ehildren  of  Set-Typhun.  The  talc  of 
Samson  follows  the  Sun-god  through  the  year;  Spring  (ch.  14),  Summer 
(151-81),  Autumn  and  Winter  (iS**'^-^^);  ch.  16  is  his  descent  to  the  world 
below;  he  breaks  the  gates  of  Hades  (16^-3).  bound  by  Delilah,  he  loses  his 
eyes  and  his  strength,  but  his  might  returns  and  he  triumphs  as  a  god  over 
his  foes  (i6*-3"). — The  name  jv^'C^r  is  derived  from  c-:-', 'sun '  (see  alxivc, 
p.  326) ;  Steinthal  and  others  compare  it  with  pji  from  r,  *  fish,'  but  the 
formation  is  too  frequent  to  allow  us  to  attach  any  significance  to  this  coinci- 
dence, even  were  the  latter  etymology  more  certain  than  it  is.  That  prcr  is 
equivalent  to  tr'Du'  is  not  probable,  nor  is  the  explanation  which  would  make 
it  a  diminutive  acceptable;  it  might  mean  "  sun-worshipper,"  f  a  name  which 
would  not  be  strange  in  the  vicinity  of  Beth-shemesh  (above,  p.  325).  J  A 
legend  whose  hero  bore  such  a  name  would  attract  and  absorb  elements  of  an 
originally  mythical  character,  such  as  the  foxes  in  the  corn-fields  perhaps 
represent;  §  but  if  this  be  true,  all  consciousness  of  the  origin  and  significance 
of  the  tale  had  been  lost,  and  the  mythical  traits  commingle  freely  with  those 
which  belong  to  folk-story.  This  explanation  is  at  least  as  natural  as  the 
alternative,  that  an  original  solar  myth  has  been  transformed  into  heroic 
legend,  with  the  admixture  of  a  large  non-mythical  element.  The  historical 
character  of  the  adventures  of  Samson  may  be  given  up  without  denying  the 
possibility,  or  even  probability,  that  the  legend,  which  is  very  old,  has  its  roots 
in  the  earth,  not  in  the  sky.  j| 


XVII.-XXI.    Two  Additional   Stories  of  thk  Times 

OF    THE    JUD(;ES.Tf 

XVII.,  XVIII.    The  migration  of  the  Danites. 

The  first  of  the  two  supplementary  stories  relates  the  origin  of 
the  image  in  the  famous  sanctuary  of  Dan.  —  A  man  named  Micah, 
whose  home  was  somewhere  in  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim,  is  the 
proprietor  of  a  shrine,  with  an  image  and  oracle,  and  has  a  Levite 

*  Against  Steinthal,  see  Wellhausen-Bleek,  Ein/^.  1876,  p.  196 ;  FWckner, "  Ueber 
die  Hypothese  Steinthals,  dass  Simson  ein  Sonnenheros  sei,"  7'Ac-o/.  Quartalschrifl, 
1886,  1887  ;  o  Baethgen,  Deitrage,  p.  162  ff.        f  See  Noldeke,  7.DMG.  xlii.  p.  480. 

+  To  connect  Delilah  (n'?^'?n)  with  "  Night"  ("i^^S),  as  Wietzke  and  Kittcl  do, 
is  mere  punning.  \  See  above,  p.  341  f. 

II  See  Hitz.,  GVI.  i.  p.  123;  Roskoff;  G.  IJaur  in  Riehm,  IJWB.  s.v. ;  Kittcl, 
GdH.  i.  2.  p.  81  f.;  Baethgen,  lieitrage,  p.  162. 

H  See  Introduction,  \  5.  Auberlen, "  Die  drci  Anhiingc  des  liuchs  dor  Kichter," 
Uud.  It.  Kni.,  i860,  p.  536-568. 


366  JUDGES 

as  his  priest  (17^"^^).  The  Danites,  who  have  hitherto  been  unable 
to  get  any  permanent  possession  in  Canaan,  send  from  their  seats 
in  the  southwest  a  party  to  explore  the  land.  Passing  through 
the  Highlands  of  Ephraim,  the  scouts  halt  at  Micah's  house  and 
consult  his  oracle  (iS^**').  Receiving  a  favourable  response,  they 
go  on,  and  find  Laish,  at  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  inviting  attack 
by  its  isolated  situation  and  the  unguarded  security  of  its  people 
(v/"^*^).  On  their  representations,  a  considerable  part  of  the  tribe, 
numbering  six  hundred  fighting  men,  migrates  to  the  north,  carry- 
ing off  as  they  go  Micah's  image  and  his  priest  (v.^^'-^).  They 
capture  Laish,  put  its  inhabitants  to  the  sword,  and  settle  there, 
giving  it  the  name  of  their  own  tribe,  Dan  (v.^'^) .  They  set  up 
Micah's  image  in  the  holy  place,  where  it  remained  to  later  times, 
ministered  to  by  a  priesthood  which  was  reputed  to  be  descended 
from  Moses  (v.^^*") . 

The  narrative  is  not  all  from  one  hand.  The  inventory  of 
Micah's  idols,  ephod,  teraphlm,  pesel,  massekah,  in  various  permu- 
tations, is  confusing.*  The  origin  of  the  last  two  is  related  in 
17^"^;  that  of  the  other  two  is  apparently  independent  (v.^). 
Micah's  priest  is  a  wandering  Levite  from  Bethlehem,  whom  he 
hires  to  make  his  home  with  him  (v.^'^^"")  ;  while  in  yJ  he  is  a 
young  Levite  who  was  living  in  the  neighbourhood  (cf.  i8^^).t  In. 
the  account  of  the  sending  out  of  the  Danite  spies  (18^)  there  is 
a  manifest  plethora,  as  there  is  also  in  v.^  and  in  v.^'^";  in  the 
verses  which  describe  the  robbery  of  Micah's  sanctuary  (v.^^"'') 
we  find  not  only  redundancy  but  conflicting  representations,  and 
the  confusion  resulting  from  the  attempt  to  combine  them  has 
been  increased  by  various  glosses.  Finally,  the  two  statements 
concerning  the  duration  of  the  cultus  at  Dan  (v.^*^-^^)  cannot  both 
come  from  the  same  source. 

Oort,  J  Wellhausen,  §  and  Kuenen  ||  explain  these  phenomena 
as  the  result  of  somewhat  extensive  interpolations,  the  disorder 
occasioned  by  these  being  aggravated,  as  is  often  the  case,  by 


*  Gramberg  and  Rcuss  think  that  all  these  names  are  used  for  a  single  image. 
Others  suppose  that  there  were  two,  or  three.        f  Compare  also  v.iOa  with  v.^ib, 

X  "  De  heiligdommcn  van  Jehovah  te  Dan  en  te  Bethel  v6or  Jerobeam  I.," 
7)4.  T.  i.  1867  (p.  285-306) ,  p.  288  f.  §  Comp.,  p.  232  f. ;  cf.  p.  356  f. 

li  nCOi.  i.  p.  358-360. 


XVII.-XVIII.  367 

corruption  of  the  text  and  secondary  glosses.  The  motive  of  the 
(interpolations  was_to  throw  contempt  upon  the  sanctuary  at  Dan  ; 
its  famous  image  of  Yahweh  was  made  of  stolen  silver,  to  which 
a.  curse  clung  (17^'M.  Vatke  *  and  Bertheau  f  recognized  two 
narratives  united  by  a  redactor,  and  attempted  to  separate  them ; 
Budde  J  offers  a  continuous  analysis  of  ch.  17,  18.  The  two 
narratives  originally  resembled  each  other  very  closely,  and  con- 
siderable uncertainty  must  exist  in  the  details  of  the  analysis,  but 
the  composite  character  of  the  chapters  appears  to  me  sufficiently 
established. 

Vatke's  analysis  is  based  upon  the  erroneous  assumption  that  only  one 
Levite  is  mentioned  in  the  chapters.  The  Danites  carried  off  Micah's  son, 
Jonathan,  who  was  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  (18'''^  cf.  17I).  In  the  other 
narrative  the  Levite  is  also  carried  off,  but  disappears  in  the  sequel.  Bertheau 
ascribes  to  one  account,  iS^S-  is.  17*  (^the  priest  was  standing  at  the  gate) 
v.i8b-20.2Ga.27b-29.  to  the  other,  i8i4. 16. 17*.  18a.  21-1'.-..  26b.  27a.  ]„  the  former  the 
priest  is  persuaded  to  accompany  the  Danites,  and  himself  bears  off  the  sacra  ; 
in  the  other,  he  is  carried  off  by  force.  The  inconsistency  of  this  analysis 
is  shown  by  Kue.  (/.^.).      Budde  reconstructs  the  two  accounts  as  folhnvs : 

I  i«1.5.8-lla.  12aa.  13  jglb.  2*.  3*.  4b*.  5.  6a.  8*.  9*.  10*.  11*.  12.  13*.  15*.  17*.  18*.  19-29.31. 
II.     i^Sa.  3b/3.  4a.  2b.  3ba.  4b.  7. 12b.  lib.  12a|3    |  gib.  2*.  3*.  4a.  6b.  7*.  8*.  9*.  10*.  11*.  13*.  14.  17*. 

15*.  18*.  ...30.     Similarly  Kittel  (Gd//.  i.  2.  p.  19;    cf.  also  Kittel's  analysis  in 

Kautzsch,  Das  Alte  Test.)  :  I.  171-  5  .  .  .  8-lla.  12aa.  13  iglb.  2aa.  2b.  .%--*.  8-lOaa.  lOb-U*. 
15*.  16*.  17*.  18a*.  18b-29(31?).        IJ.     1 72-4.  6f.  lib.  12a/3.  b    jgla  (2tt^  ?)■  3a.  7*.  lOa/3^   parts   of 

v.14-18. 20(30?).  —  In  nearly  all  the  places  where  the  te.xt  is  redundant  and  con- 
fused it  is  possible  to  disengage  two  strands  of  narrative;  but  to  which  of  the 
two  sources  they  should  be  attributed,  there  are  in  many  instances  no  criteria 
to  determine;  every  attempt  at  a  reconstruction  in  detail  must  at  best  be  one 
of  several  possibilities.  The  first  of  the  two  narratives  ran  somewhat  as 
follows:  A  man  of  Mt.  Ephraim,  Micah  by  name,  had  a  shrine  (c^n^N  po) 
containing  an  ep/iod  and  teraphim,  and  consecrated  one  of  his  sons  as  priest 
(171-5).  Afterwards,  a  wandering  Levite  from  Bethlehem  in  Judah,  in  search 
of  employment,  came  that  way,  and  was  hired  by  Micah,  who  installed  him  in 
the  place  of  his  son,  rejoicing  that  he  had  now  a  regular  priest  (v.**-!"-  "<»•  i-*"-  '^). 
The  Danites,  who  have  as  yet  made  no  permanent  settlement,  send  out  an 
exploring  party  (iS'-^a*).  They  come  to  Micah's  house,  and  pass  the  night 
there  (v.^b).  (They  fall  in  with  his  priest,  and  inquire,)  '  What  business  hast 
thou  here?  '  (v.^b*).  He  replies  that  Micah  has  hired  him  as  his  priest  (v.'*''). 
They  bid  him  consult  the  oracle  for  them  (v.°),  and  receive  from  him  a 
favourable  response  (v.^).     They  come  to  Laish,  and  find  its  people  secure 

*  Alttest.  Theol.,\^yi„  p.  268.  t  Kicht.,  p.  241  £. 

\  Kicht.  u.  Sam.,  p.  138-144. 


368  JUDGES 

and  confident  (v.'*).  Returning,  they  urge  their  clansmen  to  go  against  the 
place,  which  will  be  an  easy  conquest  and  a  most  desirable  possession  (v.8*-9*- 
JO*).  Accordingly,  six  hundred  fighting  men  of  the  clan,  with  their  famihes, 
set  out  on  the  expedition  (v."  *•  i^- 13) .  The  spies  apprise  them  that  in  the 
village  are  an  ephod  and  terapJmfv  (v.!"^).  The  armed  band  halts  at  the  gate 
(v.^*^),  while  the  five  spies  go  to  Micah's  house  to  take  the  ephod  and  tera- 
pJnm  (v.^s*)  .*  The  priest,  who  is  standing  at  the  door,  demands  what  they 
are  doing  (v.^'*'*-  J^^) ;  they  bid  him  hold  his  peace  and  come  with  them,  and 
be  the  tribe's  priest  (v.i^).  Without  more  ado,  he  takes  the  images  and 
accompanies  them;  they  join  the  main  body,  and  march  away.  Micah  raises 
the  villagers  and  pursues  them,  but  is  driven  back  by  rude  threats  (v.  20-26)^ 
The  Danites  take  Laish,  and  set  up  Micah's  images  in  their  sanctuary  (v.27-29- 
3"-),  The  second  account  is  not  so  completely  preserved,  especially  toward 
the  end.  It  begins  by  relating  the  circumstances  under  which  Micah's  images 
{pesel  and  viassekah)  were  made,  of  silver  which  had  been  stolen  from  his 
mother  (17--*).  For  his  priest  he  had  a  young  Judaean  Levite  who  was  living 
in  the  neighbourhood  (v."^),  whom  he  treated  as  one  of  his  own  sons  (v.^^^-  I2a), 
The  sending  out  of  the  Danite  exploring  expedition  must  have  been  related 
substantially  as  in  the  other  account  (iS^*"-*).  As  they  come  into  the  vicinity 
of  Micah's  house,  they  recognize  the  voice  of  the  young  Levite,  and  turning 
aside  thither  inquire  of  him  what  he  is  doing  there  (v.^*).  He  rephes:  So 
and  so  Micah  has  done  to  me  (v.**).  They  find  Laish  dwelling  in  security, 
after  the  manner  of  the  Phoenicians  (v.'^*).  They  report  to  their  kinsmen  at 
home,  and  bid  them  make  no  delay  to  occupy  the  land  (v.^-^^*).  They 
accordingly  emigrate  from  their  former  seats  (v.^^*).  On  their  way  they 
come  to  Micah's  home,  and  turn  aside  thither  to  the  house  of  the  young 
Levite,  and  salute  him  (v.^^).  In  what  follows  it  is  only  clear  that  they  got 
possession  of  Micah's  pesel  and  massekah,  and  carried  them  off;  it  is  probable 
that  the  young  Levite  accompanied  them  voluntarily.  To  this  source  v.^i 
seems  to  belong.  Traces  of  it  are  also  perhaps  to  be  recognized  in  the 
account  of  the  taking  of  Laish.  Budde  attributes  the  first  of  the  two  narra- 
tives, as  restored  by  him,  to  E.  Teraphim,  which  are  not  often  mentioned  in 
the  O.T.  (Hos.  3*  with  ephod,  i  S.  1523  19I3.I6  2  K.  2324  &c.),  are  found  in 
the  Hexateuch  only  in  E,  Gen.  3119- 34f.^  which  also  affords  a  striking  parallel 
to  Micah's  pursuit,  Jud.  i82iff-;  cf.  Gen.  3123  with  Jud.  i822;  3180  with  iS^*. 
The  comparatively  rare  Sj"i,  'spy  out,'  is  found  in  Gen.  42  Nu.  21^2  (E);  the 
story  of  Kahab  and  the  taking  of  Jericho,  in  which  the  word  occurs,  is  also 
prob.  from  E.  Cf.  also  □>n'?N  Jud.  iS^-^^^  It  would  then  be  natural  to  ascribe 
the  other  version  of  the  story  to  J,  but  for  this  Budde  has  no  positive  grounds, 
while  Jos.  19'^"  ((S)  might  argue  against  it.f  Kitt.,  whose  analysis  agrees 
substantially  with  Budde's  (see  above,  p.  367),  doubts  whether  the  second 
version  ever  existed  by  itself;   the  obvious  tendency  to  put  all  the  actors  in 

*  Or,  perhaps,  the  body  of  the  emigrants  halted  at  the  gate  while  the  armed  men 
went  to  Micah's  house.  f  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  144  f. 


XVTT  -XVTIT.  369 

an  odious  li^lit  su<,'gcsts  that  it  may  be  wholly  the  work  of  an  c.litor.  This 
hypothesis,  which  is  virtually  that  of  Oort  and  WcUhauscn  (above,  p.  366  f.), 
hardly  does  justice  to  the  facts  which  point  to  composition  rather  than  inter- 
polation. The  evidence  which  Budde  has  adduced  is  perhaps  not  conclusive. 
So  far  as  the  general  impression  which  the  narrative  makes  may  he  trusted,  1 
should  be  strongly  inclined  to  ascribe  the  iirst  version  to  tlie  same  hand  from 
which  we  have  the  stories  of  Samson,  the  first  version  of  tlie  history  of  (lideon, 
and  other  parts  of  the  Book  of  Judges  which  Budde,  I  think  rightly,  attributes 
to  J. 

The  note,  "  In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  every 
man  did  as  he  pleased  "  (17'^  18'"  cf.  19'  21"'),  is  probably  the  com- 
ment of  an  editor,  who  felt  it  necessary  to  explain  how  such  law- 
less doings  went  unrestrained  and  unpunished.  That  the  writer  of 
these  words  must  have  Hved  before  the  exile  is  perhaps  too  j)osi- 
tively  affirmed  by  Kuenen.  Chapter  i8'^-^^  throws  some  light  on 
the  age  of  the  stories.  Verse  ^^  tells  us  that  the  image  which 
Micah  had  made  stood  in  Dan  as  long  as  the  house  of  (iod  was  at 
Shiloh.  Unfortunately,  we  do  not  know  when  this  temple  was 
destroyed.  In  the  historical  books  there  is  no  mention  of  it  after 
the  time  of  Eli ;  in  the  next  generation  the  priests  of  his  house 
were  at  Nob,  and  it  is  commonly  believed  that  Shiloh  was  de- 
stroyed during  the  Philistine  wars.  But  Jeremiah  (7'-")  points 
to  Shiloh  as  a  conspicuous  example  of  a  holy  place  which  Yahweh 
had  destroyed  for  the  wickedness  of  Israel,  in  a  manner  which 
hardly  suggests  that  he  is  drawing  his  lesson  from  such  ancient 
history,  and  others  therefore  think  of  the  Assyrian  wars.  Accord- 
ing to  v.^,  the  priesthood  of  the  line  of  Jonathan  presided  at  Dan 
down  to  the  deportation,  by  which  is  probably  meant  the  deporta- 
tion of  the  inhabitants  of  that  region  by  Tiglath-pileser  in  734  B.C. 
(2  K.  15^).*  There  seems  to  be  no  decisive  reason  why  v.*** 
should  not  be  ascribed  to  the  sources  from  which  the  two  versions 
of  the  story  are  derived,!  though  this  has  been  doubted,  \  and  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  cannot  be  proved. 

The  first  version  of  the  story,  at  least,  seems  to  be  very  old  ;  it 
speaks  of  Micah's  e/>/il?d  with  as  little  prejudice  as  the  older  nar- 
rative in  ch.  8   of  Gideon's.      The  origin  of  the  image   in  the 

*  See  on  this  captivity,  Schrader.  A'./  r^.  p.  254-257  =  COT.  i.  p.  246  ff.;  Tielc, 
Babylouhch-assyr.  Gesch.,  p.  220  f.,  332  ff.  t  He,  Bu.,  Kitt. 

:  We.,  Lamp.,  p.  232,  cf.  357  i  Kue.,  HCQi.  i.  p.  359 1 
2B 


370  JUDGES 

famous  sanctuary  at  Dan  is  an  interesting  matter  of  history;  the 
way  in  which  the  Danites  got  possession  of  it  makes  a  very  good 
story.  The  author's  sympathies,  so  far  as  he  shows  them,  are  on 
the  side  of  the  spoilers  ;  he  makes  them  not  only  rob  Micah,  but 
mock  him.  - — -x 

In  the  second  version,  especially  irki  7^""*,  many  scholars  think 
that  the  whole  motive  js  to  cast  reproach  upon  the  sanctuary  at 
Danj*  its  venerated  image  was  made  of  silver  which  a  son  had 
stolen  from  his  own  mother ;  when  the  money  was  recovered  and 
dedicated  to  Yahweh,  the  greater  part  of  it  was  kept  back  by  fraud ; 
the  idol  itself  was  stolen  from  its  owner  by  the  Danites.  It  is  by 
_no_means^lear,  however,  that  the  author  had  anything  of  the  sort 
in  mind,  ^y^such  had  been  his  prime  motive,  he  would  surely 
have  begun  by  telling  the  story  of  the  theft ;  but  this  is  not  done, 
nor  is  there  any  trace  of  contempt  or  even  condemnation  in  the 
fallowing  narrative.  Chapter  1 7-"''  merely  explains  how  so  costly 
and  splendid  an  idol  came  to  be  in  the  possession  of  a  private 
person ;  it  was  an  ex  voio  for  the  recovery  of  the  money.  If  this 
interpretation  be  correct,  there  is  no  necessity  for  regarding  the 
second  version  as  much  younger  than  the  first. 

The  historical  value  of  these  chapters  is  hardly  inferior  to  that 
of  any  in  the  book.  The  picture  of  the  social  and  religious  state 
of  the  times  which  they  contain  is  full  of  life,  and  bears  every 
mark  of  truthfulness.  The  tribe,  or  clan,  of  the  Danites,  unable 
permanently  to  establish  itself  in  the  south  (i^'^  cf.  Jos.  \(f  ^  and 
<3),  sends  its  spies  to  seek  a  new  location.  They  find  an  isolated 
and  unguarded  Phoenician  town  in  the  far  north,  and  six  hundred 
fighting  men,  apparently  the  greater  part  of  the  tribe,  migrate 
thither,  sack  the  town,  and  occupy  it.  In  this  narrative,  apart 
from  its  own  importance  for  the  history  of  this  tribe,  we  have 
doubtless  a  type  of  many  similar  enterprises  in  the  period  of 
conquest ;  cf.  esp.  Jos.  1 7^^'^^.  Images  of  Yahweh,  sometimes  of 
considerable  cost  and  splendour,  are  found  in  the  possession  not 
only  of  a  judge,  like  Gideon  (8^),  but  of  private  persons,  who 
may  even  have  a  shrine  or  small  temple  {beth-dohwi)  for  them. 
Where  there  was  such  an  image,  a  priest  was  needed.     If  no  better 


•Op^^  WevK¥e.,Kitt. 


XVII.-XVIII. 


371 


was  at  hand,  a  man  might  consecrate  one  of  his  sons;  but  a  Levilc 
^sjoreferred  (17''),  that  is,  a_rnember_of  the  hereditary  guild  who 
possessed  the  traditional  religious  lore  and,  especially,  technical 
skill  in  consulting  and  interpreting  the  oracle.  The  Levites  were 
not  all  of  one  tribe ;  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Levites  in  ch.  i  7  f. 
and  in  ch.  19  are  all  in  some  way  connected  with  Ijethlehciu.oT 
Judah,  and  the  young  Levite  whom  Micah  installs  as  i)riest  in  the 
second  version  of  our  story  is  expressly  said  to  have  been  "  of  the 
clan  of  Judah."  The  famous  sanctuary  at  Dan  contained  an 
image  which  the  Danites  had  carried  off  from  Mt.  Ephraim  in 
their  migration.  Its  priesthood,  to  the  end,  claimed  descent  from 
Moses,  as  was  perhaps  the  case  with  the  priests  of  other  northern 
sanctuaries. 

The  period  in  which  the  action  of  these  chapters  falls  is  not 
determined  by  their  position  in  the  book.  In  the  I'ook  of  Judges 
proper  they  were  evidently  not  included  at  all.  The  later  editor 
who,  to  our  good  fortune,  preserved  them  could  hardly  have  intro- 
duced them  into  the  body  of  the  book,  with  its  strongly  marked 
plan  and  purpose  ;  and  the  migration  of  Danites  from  Zorah  and 
Eshtaol  might  seem  to  find  its  fittest  place  immediately  after  the 
story  of  Samson,  the  scene  of  which  is  the  Danite  settlements  in 
and  around  those  towns.  But  we  cannot  safely  draw  from  the  story 
of  Samson,  in  which  Danites  are  settled  at  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  the 
converse  inference  that  the  migration  of  ch.  18  occurred  after  the 
time  of  Samson,  i.e.  after  the  beginning  of  the  Philistine  aggres- 
sions, and  therefore  toward  the  end  of  the  period  of  the  judges ; 
for  the  narrative  does  not  imply  that  all  the  Danites  joined  in  the 
expedition  to  Laish,  wholly  abandoning  their  old  seats,  and  it  is 
on  other  grounds  improbable  that  this  was  the  case.*  There  is 
no  intimation  either  in  the  story  of  Samson  or  in  ch.  iS  of  such  a 
pressure  from  the  side  of  the  Philistines  as  might  force  the  Danites 
out  of  their  settlements  ;  iS^  agrees  perfectly  with  i'*^,  and  we  shall 
do  better,  therefore,  to  explain  their  failure  to  establish  themselves 
there  by  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the  native  population  of  the 
Lowland,  the  Amorites  (i*^,  cf.  Jos.  iq*^*").    The  removal  of  a  con- 


*  Danites  in  the  south  are  presupposed  by  the  allotment  in  Joshua,  Note  also 
the  tomb  of  Samson  (i6'^i),  and  the  survival  uf  the  name  Manoah  in  this  region 
after  the  exile  (see  above,  p.  316). 


372  JUDGES 

siderable  part  of  the  tribe  may  have  left  room  enough  for  those 
who  remained  behind.  Chapter  5^"  shows  that  in  the  time  of 
Deborah  the  tribe  was  already  in  its  northern  seats.  The  migra- 
tion related  in  ch.  1 8  may  therefore,  with  considerable  probability, 
be  assigned  to  a  time  not  very  long  after  the  Israelite  invasion  of 
Canaan.  Chapter  iS^*^  would  fix  it  in  the  next  generation  after 
the  invasion,  if  we  could  be  confident  that  no  links  in  the  geneal- 
ogy are  omitted.* 

XVII.  1-6.  Micah's  idols.  —  A  man  of  Mt.  Ephraim,  Micah 
by  name,  confesses  that  he  has  in  his  possession  the  silver  which 
has  been  stolen  from  his  mother,  and  restores  it.  Of  part  of  it 
she  has  an  idol  made,  which  is  in  Micah's  house.  Micah  has  a 
shrine,  makes  an  ephod  and  teraphun,  and  consecrates  one  of  his 
sons  as  priest.  —  1.  Thej-e  was  a  man  of  the  Highlands  of  Ephi-aim^ 
whose  name  was  Micdyehii\  on  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim,  see  on 
3^'.  The  name  and  residence  of  the  man  seems  to  have  been  the 
same  in  both  narratives.  Micdyehu,  v."* ;  elsewhere  in  the  chapters 
the  common  shorter  form  of  the  mxnQ,  Micah  (v.^-^'"^  &c.)  ;  cf. 
Micayehu  ben  Imlah,  i  K.  22^,  and  Micah  the  Morasthite,  Mic  i\ 
—  2-4.  Micah,  dreading  his  mother's  curse,  confesses  the  theft, 
and  makes  restitution ;  she  dedicates  the  silver  to  Yahweh,  and 
has  two  hundred  shekels  of  it  made  into  an  idol,  which  is  in 
Micah's  house.  The  verses  belong  to  the  second  account.  The 
text  is  not  in  order ;  the  money  passes  back  and  forth  in  an 
unaccountable  way  :  in  v.^"^  he  returns  it  to  his  mother ;  in  v.^^  she 
declares  her  purpose  to  give  it  back  to  him ;  in  v."*""  he  again 
returns  it  to  her.  Budde  conjectures  that  the  last  words  of  v.^, 
afid  now  I  will  return  it  to  thee,  and  the  beginning  of  v."*,  have 
been  accidentally  displaced  from  their  original  position  after  v.-'^; 
v.-'^''  is  then  a  restoration  of  v.'*^  not  exactly  in  the  right  place.  For 
another  hypothesis,  see  below.  —  2.  The  eleven  hundred  shekels  of 
silver']  compare  the  eleven  hundred  shekels  which  the  Philistine 
rulers  promise  Delilah  (i6^).t —  Which  were  taken  from  thee]  by 

*  In  this  period  it  is  put  by  Fl.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  3,  i  §  175-178,  and  the  Jewish 
chronologists  generally;'  see  Seder  Olavi,  c.  12,  ed.  Meyer,  p.  33  (in  the  days  of 
Cushan-rishathaim)  ;  Ra.,  Ki.,  Ke.,  Auberlen,  al.  mu. 

t  Some  Jewish  scholars  inferred  from  this  coincidence  that  Micah's  mother  was 
Delilah,  an  opinion  which  Ra.  rejects  as  incompatible  with  the  chronology. 


XVIT.  i-a 


373 


theft,  as  appears  from  the  following  ;  the  neutral  expression,  taken, 
is  perhaps  employed  with  intention.* —/7;/./  thou  cursiuht,  luui 
furthei'  saidst  in  my  Jicaring]  cursed  the  unknown  thief.  What 
she  said  is  not  found  in  the  text ;  interpreters  supply  from  the 
context,  didst  utter  the  curse  /;/  my  hcai-ing,-\  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  Hebrew  will  admit  this,  and  the  force  of  the  i)article 
{also,  even,  furtJici)  is  lost.  Budde  surmises  that  the  words  of 
the  curse  itself  have  been  suppressed,  through  a  scruj^le  which  has 
in  other  instances  led  to  alterations  in  the  text ;  see,  e.\^.,  i  S.  25".  \ 
In  view  of  the  derangement  which  unquestionably  exists  in  these 
verses,  the  conjecture  may  be  hazarded,  that  the  words  which  are 
missing  here  have  been  preserved  in  v."',  and  that  we  should 
reconstruct :  And  thou  cursedst,  and  also  saidst  to  me, '  1  sacredly 
consecrate  the  silver  to  Yahweh  ...  to  make  an  idol,'  —  the  silver 
is  in  my  possession,  I  took  it ;  and  now  I  will  return  it  to  thee.  § 
And  his  mother  said,  Blessed  is  my  son  of  Yahweh.  So  he 
returned  the  silver  to  his  mother,  and  she  took  two  hundred 
shekels,  &c.  (v.**) .  —  Upon  this  hypothesis,  he  was  moved  to  make 
restoration,  not  merely  by  fear  of  his  mother's  curse,  but  by  the 
fact  that  the  silver  itself  was  thus  rendered  sacrosanct,  or  put 
under  a  taboo,  ||  so  that  to  keep  or  use  it  would  be  a  sacrilege 
which  Yahweh  was  sure  to  avenge.^  The  transposition  of  v.''** 
may  have  been  made  by  a  scribe  who,  misunderstanding  the  con- 
nexion, thought  that  the  consecration  (v."^'')  should  stand  closer  to 
the  execution  of  the  vow  (v.^).  —  And  his  mother  said,  Blessed 
of  Yahweh  is  my  son'\  the  curse  cannot  be  unsaid,  but  may  be 
neutralized  by  a  blessing ;  therefore,  after  restitution  or  expiation 
made,  the  offending  party  seeks  the  blessing  of  the  injured,  to 
avert  further  evil  (2  S.  21^  Ex.  12^^).  Curses  and  blessings,  we 
must  remember,  are  not,  in  the  conception  of  men  in  this  stage 
of  culture,  mere  wishes,  but  real  potencies  of  good  and  evil.  The 
word  has  a  magical  power.  A  blessing  once  uttered,  even  if 
obtained  by  fraud,  cannot  be  revoked  (Gen.  27,  esp.  v.""^-'')  ;   a 


*  But  cf.  i824.  t  See,  e.^.,  Cler. 

t  On  this  verse  see  We.,  TBS. ;  Dr.,  TBS.  ad  loc. 

§  That  this  is  the  necessary  order  is  seen  by  Tancimm,  who,  assuming  a  hysteron 
proteron,  rearranges  in  precisely  this  way. 

II  See  W.  R.  Smith,  RcU^uon  of  the  Semites,  p.  434.  *ii  So  Ziegler,  1791. 


374  JUDGES 

-urse,  once  launched,  pursues  its  object  like  an  Erinys.*  The 
-urse,  therefore,  inspires  rehgious  terror ;  and  a  parent's  curse  is 
the  most  terrible  of  all.  The  working  of  such  beliefs  upon  the 
guilty  conscience  can  be  readily  imagined.  In  such  a  case  as 
this,  the  curse  involved  not  only  the  criminal,  but  all  who,  being 
cognizant  of  the  wrong,  made  themselves  accessory  to  it  by  con- 
cealing their  knowledge  (Lev.  5^  Prov.  29-^)  ;  it  was  therefore  an 
effective  means  of  extorting  testimony.  In  a  more  advanced 
stage  of  religion,  it  is  Yahweh  who  executes  the  curse  in  righteous- 
ness, and  it  is  harmless  to  the  innocent.f  Here,  if  our  restoration 
of  the  verses  is  right,  the  fear  which  the  curse  inspires  is  reinforced 
by  the  perils  of  the  taboo  ;  see  above,  p.  373.  —  3.  So  he  returned 
the  eleven  hundred  shekels  of  silver  to  his  mothe?'']  these  words 
stand  in  their  proper  place  in  v."**",  following  the  promise  to  restore 
them,  v."'^^;  see  above,  p.  373.  —  /  saci-edly  consecrate  the  silver 
to  Yahweh']  in  the  present  order  of  the  context,  this  dedication 
must  be  regarded,  not  as  her  original  intention  (/  had  consecrated 
it) ,  but  as  a  purpose  formed  upon  the  recovery  of  the  money,  to 
avert  the  consequences  of  the  curse,  which,  contrary  to  her  expec- 
tation, had  lighted  on  the  head  of  her  own  son ;  for  their  probable 
original  position  and  significance,  see  above  on  v.-.  —  Ff'om  my 
hand  to  my  son]  the  words  are  variously  interpreted  :  ut  de  manu 
mea  suscipiat  filius  meus,  et  faciat  sculptile ;  |  or,  for  the  benefit 
of  my  son,  i.e.  to  expiate  his  guilt ;  §  or,  to  furnish  and  adorn  his 
shrine.  ||  As  it  is  not  the  son,  but  the  mother,  who  has  the  image 
made,  the  second  of  these  explanations  is  the  most  satisfactory  in 
the  present  context.  If  the  original  order  of  the  verses  was  as 
has  been  conjectured  above,  the  son  would  be  named  merely  as 
the  beneficiary.  But  ^  has,  f7'om  my  hand  alone  ;^  no  one  else 
can  fulfil  the  vow  of  consecration,  and,  by  having  an  image  made, 
lift  the  taboo  from  the  rest  of  the  silver.  This  is  almost  certainly 
the   original   reading;    and  it  strongly   confirms  the  conjectural 

*  Cf.  the  ordeal,  Nu.  5"-28;  Zech.  s^ff-. 

t  Cf.  Dt.  2714-!^  I  K.  831,  and  see,  in  general,  Selden,  De  synedriis,  I.  ii,  c.  ii ; 
0pp.  i.  1448  flf. ;  Ew.,  Alterthiimer,  p.  20  f.  =  Antiquities,  p.  19  f. ;  Stade,  G  VI.  i. 
p.  491  f. ;  W.  R.  Smitli,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  434;  Smend,  Alttest.  ReUgions- 
gesch.  p.  109,  114.  A  striking  modern  instance  is  to  be  found  in  Besant,  Life  of 
E.  //.  Palmer,  p.  328  f.  +  H ;  so  substantially  Ra.,  Ki.,  Stud. 

{  Schm.  II  Be.  ^  Except  BN. 


XVII.  2-3  375 

restoration  which  is  proposed  above.  —  To  make  an  idol^  lit.  a 
graven  image  and  a  molten  image ;  Heb.  pcscl  and  massekah. 
Pesel  is  properly  a  carving,  sculpture,  carved  figure  in  wood  or 
stone  ;  in  the  O.T.  always  the  image  of  a  god.*  As  such  images 
were  the  oldest,  and  probably  always  the  most  common,  pad  is 
also  used  generically  for  '■  idol,'  including  such  as  were  cast  in 
metal  (Is.  30--  40''-'  44'"*  Jer.  10'^ ;  cf.  Jud.  17^).  The  proper  name 
of  the  latter  was  massekah,  or  ncsek  (Is.  41^)  ;  they  were,  as  the 
name  imports,  cast  in  a  mould,  and  generally,  it  seems,  of  gold  or 
silver.  The  name  is  applied  particularly  to  the  little  golden  bulls 
(images  of  Yahweh)  which  were  worshipped  in  the  Northern 
Kingdom  (2  K.  \f^  cf.  i  K.  12-'^),  and  to  the  similar  image  which 
Aaron  made  at  Horeb  (Ex.  32^-^  Dt.  9^--^*^  Neh.  9''').  Pesel  and 
massekah  are  coupled  in  Dt.  27^^  to  comprehend  every  kind  of 
idol  (cf.  also  Nah.  i"  Is.  48^),  and  similarly  in  the  parallelism  of 
prophetic  discourse  {e.g.  Jer.  10"  =  51^^  Hab.  2^**  Is.  42'^).  In  the 
passage  before  us  the  conjunction  of  the  two  terms  cannot  be 
explained  in  this  way,  and  creates  serious  difficulty.  The  natural 
interpretation  of  the  words  in  the  context  is,  that  two  idols  of 
different  kinds  are  meant,  one  carved  in  wood  or  stone,  the  other 
cast  in  silver ;  and  this  appears  to  be  confirmed  by  v.'"',  and  by 
the  subsequent  narrative,  in  which  the  two  names  constantly  recur 
side  by  side  as  if  they  stood  for  two  distinct  things.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  idol  is  an  image  of  Yahweh  (v."'),  and  we  see  no  motive 
for  making,  besides  the  costly  silver  idol,  a  cheaper  wooden  one  f 
to  stand  in  the  same  shrine.  Further,  both  pesel  and  massekah 
are  made  by  the  silversmith  :  he  made  a  pesel  and  a  fnassekah, 
and  //  stood,  in  Micah's  house  (v."*) .  Observe  also  the  singular 
verb,  which  can  refer  to  but  one  image.  Finally,  in  i  S""^-  we  read 
only  of  the  pesel  which  the  Danites  set  up  ;  but  it  is  surely  in  the 
highest  degree  improbable  that  they  carried  off  both  a  wooden 
and  a  silver  idol,  and  set  up  in  their  own  sanctuary  only  the  less 
valuable  of  the  two.  We  are  warranted,  therefore,  in  seriously 
questioning  the  text,  and  a  closer  scrutiny  of  the  composite  text 
of  iS'^-^'-^^-'^  confirms  our  suspicion.  Only  in  the  first  of  these 
verses  is  the  order  natural,  ephod,  teraphim,  pesel,  massekah  ;   in 


*  Sec  on  3I9,  p.  94  f.,  97  +  Cf.  Is,  40*. 


376  JUDGES 

v.^''-^^  on  the  contrary,  we  find  pesel^  ephod^  teraphim,  massekah, 
suggesting  that  the  last  name  was  added  in  the  process  of  compo- 
sition or  subsequently  ;  and  to  support  this  inference,  in  v.""  masse- 
kah does  not  occur  at  all,*  while  in  v.^^-,  as  already  noticed,  pesel 
stands  alone.  It  is  reasonably  certain,  therefore,  that  the  author 
of  this  second  narrative  wrote  throughout  only  pesei,  and  that  an 
editor  or  scribe,  observing  that  the  idol  {pesei)  was  of  silver, 
added  the  more  exact  term  massekah:\  This  hypothesis  relieves 
the  difficulties  which  have  so  much  exercised  interpreters.  —  And 
now  I  will  retm-n  it  to  tiiee~\  the  words  of  Micah,  which  should 
immediately  follow  v.-'^,  tlie  silver  is  in  my  possession  ;  J  took  it.  — 
4.  So  he  returned  the  silver  to  his  mother'\  in  the  original  context 
this  clause  was  preceded  by  v.-*'.  Blessed  by  Yahweh  is  my  son ; 
cf.  v.^"".  The  interpreters  who  follow  the  present  order  of  the  text 
are  not  able  to  give  any  reasonable  explanation  of  the  words.  %  — 
His  mother  took  two  hund^-ed  shekels  of  silver  and  gave  them  to 
the  silversmith']  what  became  of  the  other  nine  hundred  is  not 
said.  Kimchi  explains  that  the  two  hundred  shekels  were  the 
wages  of  the  artist,  the  remainder  of  the  silver  was  made  into  the 
image ;  a  Lyra  and  others,  that  the  rest  of  the  money  was  used 
for  furnishing  and  adorning  the  shrine  ;  §  Auberlen,  that  the  woman 
through  avarice  broke  her  vow,  and  gave  to  Yahweh  only  a  small 
part  of  the  consecrated  treasure ;  ||  Kuenen,  adopting  this  expla- 
nation, finds  here  additional  evidence  of  the  author's  desire  to 
cast  contempt  on  the  worship  at  Dan.^  All  these  interpretations 
are  far-fetchecl,  and  they  are  really  superfluous.  The  intention  of 
the  dedication  (v.'^)  was  not  to  devote  the  whole  of  the  treasure 
to  the  making  of  an  image,  but  to  compel  the  thief  to  restore  it  by 
putting  the  whole  under  a  taboo  until  she  herself  had  made,  from 
this  silver,  an  image  of  Yahweh.  If  the  author  had  understood 
that  the  woman  vowed  to  make  the  whole  weight  of  metal  into  an 
image,  he  would  have  given  his  own  explanation  of  the  discre- 
pancy.    The  silvers77iith  appears  in  the  Old  Testament  chiefly  as 


*  It  is  added  in  (5,  however. 

t  Possibly  also  he  was  thinking  of  the  molten  image  at  Dan ;  i  K.  12-8  2  K.  17I6, 

t  See  Auberlen,  Stud.  zi.  Krit.,  i860,  p.  548 ;  Be.,  Ke.,  al. 

^  Stud.,  Be.  II  So  also  Oort,  Cass.,  al. 

H  Sec  above,  p.  366  f.,  370, 


XVI T.  3-4 


377 


a  maker  of  idols  (Is.  40'^  41'  46"  Jer.  \6''')*~Andhetnadgit 
into  an  ii/ol~\  Heb.  />cst'/  i\m\  massckah  ;  see  on  \:\  —  And  it  luas 
in  AlicalCs  house\  the  bingular  verb  shows  tliat  tlic  writer  was 
speaking  of  one  idol,  not  of  two. 

1.  in^3^?p  i-'^i]  'Who  is  like  Vahwch';  the  two  other  nai.ics  in  the  book 
which  are  compounded  with  Yahweh  are  Joash,  the  father  of  Gideon  (ch.  6), 
and  Jotham,  his  son  (ch.  9).  Names  thus  formed  become  common  in  the 
next  age,  that  of  Saul  and  Daviil.  See  v.  Bohlen,  Genesis,  p.  civ.";  Nestle, 
Die  hraelitischen  Eigennamen,  p.  68  ff.;  Koiiig,  Jlauptprohlcmc,  u.  s.  w., 
p.  26  f.  On  names  compounded  with  nn-,  see  also  M.  Jastrow,  Jr.,  J  HI.. 
xiii.  1894,  p.  loi  ff.  — 2.  1^  n,-;^^  irx]  the  interest  of  the  possessor  in  the  loss 
of  the  money  is  uppermost  in  the  writer's  mind,  rather  than  the  fact  that  the 
money  is  taken  away  (l^ix^)  ;  qui  surrepti  iibi  fuerant  (Cler.).  So  ©-VI'sl.m  g 
Toi)s  \7](pd^vTas  <xoi,  ^S.  The  common  ''?  np"?  (take  to  one's  self)  has  misled 
other  interpreters;  (J5^^  2,  %  qiios  separaveras  tibi.  Similarly  Ew.,  whose 
interpretation  (^GVI.  ii.  p.  491)  is  a  masterpiece  of  contorted  exegesis.  —  vn) 
^roSs]  the  old  endings  of  the  2  sg.  fem.  The  pron.  in  this  form  seven  times 
(Frensdorff,  Massoret.  Wdrterbuch,  p.  230 ;  cf.  Norzi) ;  in  the  verb  it  is  more 
frequent;   see  Bo.  ii.  p.  132;   Ko.  i.  p.  151.     n^x  Kal,  i  K.  S'^^  t  Hos.  4^  10*. 

—  1JTN3  mcN  DJi]  X  and  didst  utter  it  (the  curse)  in  my  hearing,  woultl  be 
at  least,  ^j?{<3  niji  on;  in  Gen.  48  Ex.  19-^  where  "Cn  stands  in  a  similar 
way,  what  was  said  being  omitted,  the  text  is  at  fault.  We  have  therefore 
either  to  infer  that  the  words  spoken  have  been  intentionally  dropped  (lJu.\ 
or,  as  I  have  suggested  above,  that  they  have  been  transjioscd  to  v.*;  see 
below  at  the  end  of  v.^.  —  niniS  ••n  "jna]  blessed  of  YaJnveh ;  by  Yahweh. 
*?  with  passive,  Ges.25  §  121,  3;   Ew.  §  395  c;  cf.  I   S.  1513  Ru.  2-^  Gen.  14". 

—  3.  "'nc'l'";''7  li'l^I']  I  sacredly  dedicate ;  perf.  of  resolve,  Hxed  purpose,  psy- 
chologically presented  as  an  accomplished  fact;  Dr^.  §  13;  Ges.-^  §  106,  3. — 
>J3^  n>::]  so  ©^^EST;  <S  a,  from  the  hands  of  my  son.  ©apslmo  g  ^  ^^^^ 
/xoj/as,  i.e.  n^^,  which  is  probably  the  true  reading;  see  above,  p.  374.  The 
corruption  may  have  arisen  by  the  correction  of  a  misread  '«-<3'',  or  through 
simple  misunderstanding.  —  '^Dr]  plur.  c^'^'Dr,  see  on  3'^;  on  the  verb  ib.\  an 
idol,  Ex.  20*  Dt.  58  (decalogue)  ;  likeness  of  men  or  animals,  ih.,  Dt.  /^^-  ^  **; 
work  of  the  hands  of  an  artisan  (-'in),  Dt.  27^^  Is.  4o''-'-^;  of  wood.  Is.  40-' 
44^''  45-^  cf.  Dt.  7^  (n">-');  stone  (Babylonian),  Is.  21^  (">3'");  nietal,  Jer.  10*^ 
(work  of  the  q-^is)  Is.  40^^  44^0  (""D;)-  —  '"^^Tj]  Ex.  34^"  (J's  decalogue),  vt'^N 
']h  n*^>'n  nS  h^d:;.  Lev.  19*;  bull  image  (of  Yahweh),  Ex.  32*- 8  Dt.  912.  i« 
Neh.  9^^  2  K.  17I6  (of  gold;  cf.  also  Is.  30--)  IIos.  13-  (silver);  images  of 
Canaanite  gods,  Nu.  S3^'^  (a^:DO  'cS'),  cf.  i  K.  14''.  nro-:  is  apparently  a 
loan-word.  To  cast,  found,  metal  is  in  Hebrew  not  iDi  (Is.  40*^441'^'),  but 
pi>  (i   K.  7  &c.),  while  in  Phoenician  (as  in  Syr.)  iDi  is  used;    see  Bloch, 

*  Eight  times ;  the  exceptions  are  Prov.  as"*  Neh.  3"-  32.    See  also  Acts  19^^'. 

t  For  n'7N2  read  n^Ni  (Klosterm.).  J  See  on  9^.  p.  243. 


3/5  JUDGES 

Phocnicischcs  Glossar,  p.  45,  cf.  s.v.  ^D :  ib.  p.  42.  The  Israelites  first  became 
acquainted  with  this  kind  of  images,  as  with  the  art  of  the  founder  altogether, 
in  Canaan.*  This  may  account  for  the  fact  that  the  oldest  prohibition  of 
idols  (Ex.  34^")  names  only  the  n:D,^;  it  was  a  new  and  conspicuously  foreign 
thing.  Some  scholars  who,  with  sound  exegetical  discernment,  have  felt  that 
the  narrative  admits  but  one  idol,  have  endeavoured  to  reconcile  the  text  with 
this  interpretation  by  the  hypothesis  that  pesel  means  the  wooden  core  of  the 
image,  massekah  a  silver  covering  with  which  it  was  overlaid;  pesel  and 
viassekah  are  the  composite  name  of  such  an  idol.  That  this  was  not  the 
understanding  of  the  author  (or  editor)  is  manifest  from  i8i''-i8,  where  the  two 
words,  which  on  this  theory  should  be  inseparable,  are  separated  from  each 
other  by  two  other  nouns.  There  is  no  warrant  elsewhere  in  the  O.T.  for  this 
opinion,  against  which  the  etymological  meaning  of  massekah  is  in  itself  con- 
clusive; plating  a  wooden  image  with  gold  or  silver  is  not  casting.  Others 
understand  by  pesel  the  image,  by  massekah  the  metal  base  or  pedestal  on 
which  it  stood;  so  Schm.,  Hengstenb.,  Ke.,  al.  This  is  wholly  at  variance 
with  the  usage  of  the  latter  word. — The  restoration  of  v.^-s  proposed  in  the 
text  would  read  as  follows :   dji  niSs  ns'i  "i'?  nj?'?  "liT'X  piddh  hndi  pjSn  idnV  ncvSii 

1CN  npni  icnS  fiD^n  nx  iv-'^     '.nini'?  "ij:j  -|n3'  i):n  icNm     ."[S  ijaitJ'N  nn;?i  vnnpS 

5.  Micah  has  a  shrine  and  oracle ;  he  installs  his  son  as  priest, 
— Verse  ^  is  not  the  continuation  of  v.'*,  but  its  counterpart  in  the 
other  version  of  the  story ;  the  ephod  and  teraph'im  which  he 
makes  for  his  shrine  correspond  to  the  pesel  and  massekah  which 
Micah's  mother  has  made,  and  which  are  in  his  house  ;  see  above, 
p.  366  f.  —  The  man  Micah  had  a  shj'me']  f  the  words  must  origi- 
nally have  followed  v.^ ;  the  form  of  the  sentence  suggests  that  the 
man  Micah  has  been  repeated  here  by  the  editor,  to  recover  con- 
nexion with  v.^  after  the  introduction  of  v.^"^  Shi'ine ;  ht.  god- 
house,  a  small  temple  which  sheltered  the  idol  or  other  object  of 
worship,  as  the  house  of  God  at  Shiloh  (18^^)  held  the  ark.  There 
was  need  of  such  a  house  only  where  there  was  an  image  or  an 
oracle ;  %  the  older  and  commoner  representatives  of  the  deity, 
the  sacred  post  {asherah)  or  stone  pillar  {i7iasse/mh) ,  stood  beside 
the  altar  on  the  high  place  under  the  open  sky,  or  beneath  the 

*  Solomon's  founders  were  Phoenicians;  i  K.  7i4ff.. 

t  H.  Pierson,  Bactylicndienst,  1866,  p.  65,0  interprets  the  words  of  a  beth-el  or 
sacred  stone ;  see  Oort,  Th.  T.  i.  1867,  p.  286  f. 

t  Stade,  G  VI.  i.  p.  465 ;  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archdologie,  ii.  p.  16  f. ;  cf,,  for  Greece, 
E.  Meyer,  CdA.  ii.  p.  429  f. 


xviT.  ,  37^ 

sacred  tree.*  The  temple  in  our  text  belonged  to  a  rich  private 
citizen  of  iMt.  ]q)hraim,  who  was  its  proprietor,  as  (iideon  was  of 
that  at  Ophrah  in  which  he  set  up  his  ephod.\—And  ituuic  an 
ephod  and  teraj)h'im~\  Gideon's  ephod,  made  of  seventeen  hundred 
shekels  of  gold  and  *  set  up  '  in  the  sanctuary  at  Ophrah,  an  object 
of  worship  (8-^),  was  clearly  an  idol  of  some  kind.  J  Micah's 
ephod  is  constantly  associated  with  tcraph'im,  which  were  certainly 
idols ;  when  the  Danites  carry  off  his  ephod  and  teraph'im,  he  cries 
after  them,  You  have  taken  the  gods  (or,  god)  which  I  matlc 
(i8-^).§  In  1  S.  2  1^  we  read  that  Goliath's  sword  was  preserved 
at  Nob  as  a  trophy,  wrapped  in  a  mantle  behind  the  ephod,  which 
we  must  imagine,  therefore,  as  standing  free  from  the  wall.  In 
the  history  of  Saul  and  David  the  ephod  is  employed  in  consulting 
the  oracle  of  Yahweh  (i  S.  14'^  (5  cf.  v.'';  23*^- '-^  30').  ||  In  all 
these  passages  the  ephod  may  be  an  idol ;  but  it  must  be  admitted 
that,  with  the  exception  of  Jud.  8-',  none  of  them  imperatively 
requires  this  interpretation.  All  that  can  with  certainty  be  gath- 
ered from  them  is  that  it  was  a  portable  object  which  was  employed 
or  manipulated  by  the  priest  in  consulting  the  oracle.  In  the 
Priest's  Law-book,  the  ephod  is  a  part  of  the  ceremonial  dress  of 
the  High  Priest,  to  which  the  oracle-pouch  containing  the  Urim 
and  Thummim  is  attached ;  ^  but,  while  it  is  probable  that  the 
oracle  of  the  High  Priest  is  a  survival  of  the  ancient  priestly  oracle 
by  the  ephod,  it  is  impossible  to  explain  the  references  to  the 
ephod  in  Judges  and  Samuel  by  the  descriptions  in  P.  See  further 
in  crit.  note.  —  The  ierapli'im  were  idols  (Gen.  31''"*  cf.  v.™,  my 
gods;  z^'^'^'i  ^v^  fi^d  them  not  only  in  the  possession  of  the 
Aramaean  Laban,  in  the  patriarchal  story,  but  in  the  house  of 

*  The  lishkah,  i  S.  9^-,  was  a  hall  for  sacrificial  feasts,  not  a  temple. 

t  It  was  a  common  thing  in  the  ancient  world  for  a  family  or  clan  to  be  the 
proprietary  custodians  of  a  holy  place;  see  E.  Meyer,  GdA.  ii.  p.  431 ;  W'ellhausen, 
Reste  arab.  Hcidentumes,  p.  128  f. ;  cf.  Ibn  Hisliam,  p.  303. 

X  It  would  be  more  exact  to  say,  an  agalrna;  in  using  the  word  idol  here  and 
below,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  to  assume  that  it  was  iconic. 

§  We  cannot  argue  here  from  the  material  used ;  the  two  hundred  shekels  of 
silver  (v.^)  belong  to  a  different  strand  of  the  narrative. 

II  It  is  perhaps  not  without  significance  that  in  ail  these  cases  the  oracle  is  con- 
sulted, not  at  a  holy  place,  but  by  a  commander  in  the  field,  or  by  David  in  the 
Philistine  country.     David's  ephod  came  from  Nob  (i  S.  23*'). 

H  See  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archaologie,  ii.  p.  118  ff. 


38o  JUDGES 

David  (i  S.  19^""^^);  from  the  last  passage  it  appears  that  they 
were  sometimes  of  considerable  size.  In  Hos.  3^  teraph'im  are 
named  in  close  connexion  with  the  eplwd,  as  in  the  chapters 
before  us,  and,  Hke  the  ephod,  were  employed  in  divination 
(2  K.  23-^  Ez.  21-^*  Zech.  10-).  It  has  been  inferred  from 
Gen.  31  I  S.  19  Jud.  17^,  that  the  teraphlm  were  household 
gods ;  t  a^d  recently  the  theory  has  been  advanced  that  they 
were  the  images  of  the  ancestors  of  the  family,  so  that  the  consul- 
tation of  the  teraphJm  was  a  species  of  Manes  oracle.  |  Of  this 
there  is  no  evidence ;  even  that  the  terapJwn  were  specifically 
household  gods  is  scarcely  borne  out  by  the  usage  (cf.  esp. 
Ez.  21-^).  See  crit.  note.  —  Having  a  shrine,  Micah  now  needed 
a  priest,  to  take  charge  of  the  house  and  to  consult  and  interpret 
the  oracle  (18^^').  —  He  installed  one  of  his  sons,  and  he  became 
his  priesl~\  lit.  filled  the  hand  of  one  of  his  sons,  the  technical 
term  for  the  investiture  of  a  priest  (v.^^  i  K.  13^^  Lev.  S^&c). 
The  original  meaning  of  the  phrase  is  not  certainly  known.  § 
Some  scholars  take  it  to  mean  that  Micah  placed  in  his  son's 
hands  the  parts  of  his  first  sacrifice  (cf.  Ex.  29"'-^  Lev.  8^'^^ 
2  Chr.  13^);  II  others  think  that  it  signifies  that  Micah  gave  him 
his  wages  or  an  earnest  of  them  in  hand,  to  bind  the  bargain ;  ^ 
others  still  interpret,  he  bestowed  on  him  the  office  of  priest.** 
With  the  installation  of  Micah 's  son  compare  i  S.  7M  when  the 
ark  was  brought  to  Kirjath-jearim,  to  the  house  of  Abinadab,  he 
consecrated  Eleazar  his  son  to  keep  the  ark. 

5.    niDs]  that  the  ephod  in  Jud.  S'^'^  was  an  idol  is  not  entirely  a  new  theory. 
,S  has  in  this  place  |j.°io.!^  {sic ;  ^^^,  Ephr.,  BB.),  which  may  be  a  scribal 


*  Heb.  2i26. 

t  See,  e.g.,  a  Lapide,  who  compares  the  Roman  Lares  and  Penates;  Schm., 
Pfeiffer,  E\v.,  Oehler,  al. 

X  Stade,  G  VI.  \.  p.  467 ;  much  more  confidently,  Schwally,  Leben  nach  dem 
Tode,  p.  35  ff, ;  cf.  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archdologie,  ii.  p.  23. 

\  See  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archdologle,  ii.  p.  120  f. 

II  So,  most  recently,  Baudissin,  Gesch.  d.  alttest.  Priesterthums,  p.  183  f. ;  simi- 
larly Di. 

H  Vatke,  Alttest.  T/ieol.,  p.  273  f. ;  We.,  Prol^.  p,  130.  This  would  do  very  well  in 
V.12  cf.  i8^iJ,  but  is  hardly  natural  in  the  case  of  Micah's  son  (v.5)  ;  nor  have  we  any 
explanation  of  the  fact  that  the  phrase  is  used  only  of  priests. 

**  Ges. ;  Hal6vy,  REJ.  xxi.  1890,  p.  209 ;  BSZ.,  al. ;  see  crit.  note. 


XVTI.  5  381 

error,  but  is  understood  by  Ephrcm  (i.  p.  320)  and  all  subsequent  iRterprcters 
as  an  image  (see  esp.  Bar  IJahlul,  s.v.).  Procopius  Gaz.  explains  i/povS,  8-', 
by  fxavrelov  ^  etduiXov.  Jerome  controverts  the  opinion  of  some  in  his  time 
who  thought  that  Micah's  ephod  was  made  of  silver  {ep.  K),  ad  Marcellam').* 
Of  an  idol  the  word  is  understood  in  Jud.  8-^  17  by  JDMich.,  SttppUmenta, 
p.  109  (1792);  Eichhorn,  Ges.,  De  Wctte,  Grambcrg,  Vatkc,  Stud.,  Keuss, 
Kue.,t  We.,  Sta.,  WRSmith,  Kautzsch,  Bu.,  Smend,  Kitt.,  Nowack,  al.  mu. ; 
of.  also  Ew.,  filter thUmer,  p.  29S  n. ;  IlSchult/,  Alltcst.  77u-ol*.  p.  135; 
FWSchultz,  PRE^.  s.v.,  al.  J  To  carry  the  ephod  before  Vahwch  is  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  priesthood  (i  S.  2^8);  §  according  to  i  S.  22^^  all  the  priests 
at  Nob  exercised  this  right;  ||  cf.  also  i  S.  14^  14"^  ©.  In  i  S.  2^**  the  boy 
Samuel  ministered  before  Yahweh,  girt  with  a  linen  epliod  (-13  iidn),  and 
David  appeared  in  the  same  dress  in  the  procession  which  brought  the  arft  to 
Jerusalem  (2  S.  6^^  cf.  v.-'^  and  i  Chr.  15-').  What  connexion  there  is  between 
this  linen  ephod  and  the  gorgeous  ephod  of  the  High  Priest  in  P  is  again  not 
clear.  Older  commentators,  almost  without  exception,^  and  many  modern 
scholars  think  that  the  ephod  is  in  all  places,  including  Jud.  8'-'  17  18,  a  piece 
of  the  priest's  dress:  so  Di.  {Exod.  ti.  Lev.,  p.  299);  Ri.  II WB.  s.v.;  Be., 
Ke.,  Cass.,  Kohl.,  Konig  {Plauptprobleme,  p.  ^g  ff.  =  A'e/igious  History  of 
Israel,  p.  107  ff.) ;  Robertson  (^Early  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  229  ff.)  ;  al.  mu.  — 
From  the  etymology  of  the  word  little  is  to  be  learned.  JUMich.  inferred 
from  Is.  3o"-^^,  rinnr  rDcr)  moN,  compared  with  the  parallel  clause,  that  Gideon's 
nii5N  was  a  wooden  image  covered  with  metal,  and  his  opinion  has  obtained 
general  acceptance  among  those  who  think  that  the  ephod  was  an  idol ;  but 
this  is  extremely  doubtful.  The  verb  "idn  in  Heb.  (Ex.  29^  Lev.  8^')  is 
denominative;  as  is  also  moN  Ex.  28^  398.  Lagarde,  with  great  probability, 
connects  the  word  with  the  root  nsi,  which  appears  in  Arab,  -cafada,  'come  as 
an  envoy  '  to  a  ruler,  or  great  man,  &c. ;  **  and  in  Syr.  ]^t-9,  a  long  robe  (used 
in  5»  to  translate  "iidn;  in  S  often  for  Xbytov).  Sec  Lagarde,  Bildtotg  der 
Nomina,  p.  178;  Mittheihingen,  iv.  p.  17.  This  etymology  does  not,  how- 
ever, help  us  much  toward  explaining  the  meaning  of  the  word  iidn  in  the 
O.T. ;  that  nissn  jrn  is  the  garment  of  approach  to  God  (Lag.)  is  more 
ingenious  than  plausible. —2>Dn.^]  the  etymology  is  obscure,  ft     Some  older 


*  See  also  a  Lap.  on  827. 

t  Hibbert  Led.,  p.  82;   against  his  earlier  opinion,  Godsdienst  v.  Isruil,  i.  p.  99- 
102  =  Religion  of  Israel,  i.  p.  96-100. 

+  That  the  ephod  was  in  the  form  of  a  bull  (De  Wcttc,  Vatkc)  is  a  groundless 
conjecture  which  is  properly  rejected  on  all  hands. 

§  The  verb  Nrj  does  not  mean  '  wear'  (a  garment). 

II  ??  has  13  ilDN  Nir-J  •^;*''N,  but  the  last  word  is  not  found  in  (D. 

f  See  esp.  Jerome,  ep.  29. 
**  The  pilgrims  to  Mecca  are  envoys  of  God. 

tt  See  esp.  Roediger,  in  Ges.  Thes.,  p.  1519  f..  where  a  full,  but  by  no  means 
exhaustive,  conspectus  of  opinions  is  given. 


382  JUDGES 

writers  derived  the  word  from  nzji  or  nd-i;  *  and  recently  Neubauer,  Sayce,t 
and  Schwally  have  queried  whether  it  should  not  be  connected  with  DiNsn.  % 
A  less  remote  etymology  connects  D^Din  with  MH.  ^in^n,  ninnn,  &c.  (also 
Aram.),  *  foulness,  obscenity';  spec,  ^pudendum.  See  Tanchuma,  Wayyese^ 
near  the  end:  ^'y\T\  niyyo  p-'  ^aV  D-'ijnn  ixnpj  nr;'^;  §  cf.  Jer.  Abodah  zarah, 
ii.  3,  fol.  41'';  Zohar  (Buxt.,  2664).  So  Tanchum  on  Jud.  17^;  Gusset, 
Lex,  s.v.  If  this  is  its  origin,  we  should  have  to  explain  the  word  as  an 
opprobrious  perversion  or  substitution,  like  nira,  fipc',  D"'';'"i'7J,  and  others.  H 
(5  renders  most  frequently,  efSwXa;  'A  fxop(pd)iJ.aTa.  Observe  (3,  1  Reg.  19^^ 
K€voTd(pLa.  The  diverse  opinions  of  the  Jewish  commentators  concerning  the 
nature  and  form  of  the  teraph'im  are  collected  by  Buxtorf,  Lex.  Talmud. ^ 
2660  ff.;  cf.  Beyer,  Additamenta,  p.  194  ff.  The  most  remarkable  is,  that  it 
was  a  mummied  human  head;  Jer.  Targ.,  Gen.  311^;  Pirqe  de  R.  Eliezer  (8th 
cent.  A.D.),  c.  36;  see  Buxtorf,  I.e.  "With  this  compare  the  description  of  this 
kind  of  divination  among  the  Harranians,  Chwolsohn,  Ssabier,  ii.  p.  19  ff., 
388  f.;  and  Chwolsohn's  notes,  p.  150  ff.  As  teraph'im  first  appear  in  the 
O.T.  in  the  possession  of  the  Aramaean  Laban,  it  is  very  probable  that  these 
stories  about  the  Harranians  are  the  source  of  the  Jewish  descriptions  of  the 
ieraphu7i  head  cited  above.  —  On  the  Teraphim  see  Spencer,  De  legibus  ritii- 
alibus,  I.  iii.  diss.  7,  who  argues  with  considerable  force  that  the  Urim  and 
Thummim  were  of  the  same  nature  with  the  Teraphim,  and  took  their  place; 
Selden,  De  Dis  Syris,  synt.  i.  c.  2,  with  Beyer's  Additamenta  ;  Pfeiffer,  Exerci- 
tationes  biblicae,  exerc.  iv. ;   cf.  also  Jerome,  ep.  29,  De  Ephod  et  Theraphim. 

6.  In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel ;  eveiy  7nan  did  as 
he  pkased~\  21^  cf.  18^  19^;  a  note  by  the  editor,  who  thought  it 
necessary  to  explain  how  such  doings  were  possible.  It  has  been 
argued  that  such  a  comment  would  be  natural  only  for  one  who 
lived  in  a  flourishing  period  of  the  monarchy,  and  that  the  editing 
of  ch.  17,  18,  must  therefore  have  taken  place  before  the  fall  of 
the  kingdom  of  Judah.^  This  is  perhaps  not  strictly  cogent;  an 
editor  who  lived  in  the  Babylonian  exile  might  have  made  the 
same  remark.  But,  as  there  are  no  traces  in  the  chapters  of  the 
exilic  point  of  view,  it  is  probable  that  the  verses  cited  were 
written  before  that  time.  —  7.  The  verse  belongs  to  the  second 
version  of  the  story,  in  which  it  followed  v.'* :   the  young  Judaean 

*  The  former  in  Zohar ;  see  Beyer,  Additamenta  to  Selden,  De  D'ls  Syr  is,  p.  188 
(1672) ;  Pfeiffer,  Exercitationes  biblicae,  iv.  «J  2  f. ;  Hoffmann,  PRE^.  i.  p.  59. 

t  ZA.  ii.  p.  95. 

\  Schwally,  Leben  nach  dem  Tode,  p.  36  n. ;  cf.  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archdologie,  ii. 
p.  23.  ^  Levy,  NHWb.  iv.  p.  674;  Kohut,  Aruch  cojnpletiun,  viii.  p.  285. 

II  Tanchum  surmises  that  it  was  formed  by  metathesis  from  nr  a. 

K  So,  eg.,  Kue.,  Bu. 


XVII.  6-7  3«3 

Levite,  wlio  is  living  in  Micah's  ncighl)ourhoo(l,  is  as  one  of  his 
own  sons  (v."^'),  and  is  installed  by  him  as  his  priest  (v.'=^). 
Verse  ^-"^  is  the  counterpart  of  this  in  the  other  narrative  :  the 
Levite  man  wanders  forth  from  Bethlehem  to  find  a  place  for 
himself;  he  comes  to  Micah's  home,  and  is  hired  by  him  to  be 
his  father  and  priest  in  the  room  of  his  son.  The  words,  from 
Bethlehem  of  Jiidah^  in  v.",  which  occasion  an  awkward  redun- 
dancy, were  probably  introduced  by  the  editor  from  what  went 
before  v.^  in  the  first  narrative.  —  There  was  a  youtii^  man  (from 
Bethlehem  of  Judah)  of  the  elan  of  Judah^  and  he  was  a  Levite'] 
how  a  Levite  could  be  of  the  elan  of  Judah  has  greatly  perplexed 
interpreters.  Theodoret  discusses  the  difficulty  at  length,  and 
offers  two  explanations:*  i.  The  words  are  an  epexegesis  of 
those  which  immediately  precede  :  Bethlehem  of  Judah,  that  is, 
belonging  to  the  clan  of  Judah ;  f  but,  taken  in  this  way,  they  are 
entirely  superfluous.  2.  The  Levite's  mother  was  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah ;  j  but  that  would  not  make  him  a  member  of  that  tribe, 
still  less  could  he  be  of  both  his  father's  and  his  mother's  tribes, 
as  this  theory  really  assumes.  A  like  objection  lies  against  the 
opinion  of  many  modern  scholars,  that  he  is  said  to  be  of  the  clan 
of  Judah  because  his  parents'  home  was  at  Bethlehem.  §  Kuenen 
would  reject  the  words  as  a  gloss ;  ||  but  the  last  thing  a  scribe  would 
think  of  would  be  to  represent  a  Levite  as  a  member  of  another 
tribe.^  The  true  explanation  probably  is  that  Levite  here  desig- 
nates his  calling,  not  his  race.  He  was  a  regularly  trained  priest, 
who  possessed  the  traditional  religious  lore,  and  especially  the  art 
of  using  and  interpreting  the  oracle.  The  calling  was  doubtless, 
like  all  others,  ordinarily,  though  not  exclusively,  hereditary ;  and 
in  later  times  all  Levites  were  supposed  to  be  descended  from  an 
eponymous  ancestor,  Levi.     This  genealogical  fiction  was  made 

*  Quacst.  25.  t  So  Ki.,  RLbG..  Schm.,  Cler.,  JHMich. 

+  So  also  Ra.;  Ki.  rightly  replies  that  there  is  no  instance  in  which  a  man  is 
said  to  be  of  his  mother's  tribe.  ^  Stud.,  Ke.,  Be.,  Cass, 

II  Oort,  Th.  T.  i.  p.  289;  Godsdienst  van  Israel,  i.  p.  258;  Th.  T.  vi.  p.  651; 
HCC^.  i.  p.  358,  360;  Th.  T.  xxiv.  p.  11.  So,  earlier,  JDMich.,  Dafhe,  al.  The 
words  are  lacking  in  (D^N  s. 

U  Smend.  Studer's  hypothesis,  suggested  by  the  Talmud,  that  the  gloss  is 
inspired  by  the  same  motive  which  in  iB^o  changed  Moses  to  Manasst-h,  is  too 
fine-drawn. 


384  JUDGES 

the  easier  by  the  fact  that  there  was  an  old  tribe,  Levi,  of  the 
same  stock  with  Judah  and  Simeon,  which  had  been  broken  up, 
and  whose  scattered  members  may  in  considerable  numbers  have 
followed  the  calling  of  priests,  which  their  relation  to  Moses  natu- 
rally opened  to  them.*  But  in  early  times  it  was  not  the  pedigree, 
but  the  art,  that  was  the  essential  thing ;  and  there  was  no  more 
difficulty  in  the  statement  that  this  Levite  was  of  Judaean  blood 
than  in  the  fact  that  Samuel,  who  was  of  Ephraimite  descent,  was 
brought  up  as  a  priest  at  Shiloh.  —  And  he  was  residing  there'] 
i()^-^^ ;  as  the  Hebrew  word  impHes,  living  as  a  client  among  a 
tribe  of  which  he  was  not  a  member.  There,  is  not  at  Bethlehem, 
as  commentators  have  felt  constrained  by  v.^  to  interpret,  but  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Micah's  home  in  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim  ; 
cf.  I8^^^t 

7.  ''i^  Nim]  ^h  has  the  usual  form  of  a  gentile  adjective,  and  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  the  name  of  the  tribe  Levi  is  merely  the  gentile  adj.  from 
HN*?  (Leah),  the  name  of  the  stock  of  which  Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  and  Judah 
are  branches ;  %  and  this  explanation,  though  not  entirely  free  from  difficulty, 
is  certainly  possible.  The  tribe  of  Levi  was  associated  with  Simeon  in  the 
treacherous  attack  on  Shechem  (Gen.  34^"^^),  which  was  repudiated  by  Israel 
(Gen.  34^'') ;  the  two  tribes  never  recovered  from  the  vengeance  which  the 
Canaanites  took  upon  them,  but  were  completely  broken;  their  scattered 
members  attached  themselves  as  clients  to  other  tribes  (Gen. 49^-7).  §  On  the 
tribe  of  Levi  see  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archaologie^  ii.  p.  87  ff.,  and  the  literature 
cited  there,  p.  87.  —  Still  more  obscure  is  the  origin  of  the  name  ii'?  in  the 
sense  of  priest  (Ex.  4!*  &c.).  If  a  Hebrew  etymology  is  to  be  sought  for  it, 
the  primary  meaning  would  be,  one  who  is  attached  to,  or  associates  himself 
with,  a  person  or  thing;  cf.  Nu.  iS^-*  Is.  14I  56^;  see  Lagarde,  Orientalia,  ii. 
p.  20  f. ;  Mittheilungen,  i.  p.  229;  Baudissin,  Pr tester tJmm,  p.  50,  74  n.  We 
should  then  most  naturally  explain  "•^  as  one  who  is  attached  to  God,  or  to 
the  holy  place;  but  this  is  purely  conjectural.  In  the  inscriptions  from 
Southern  Arabia,  ni'?  occurs  in  the  sense  of  *  priest,'  hni'?,  *  priestess '  (Hommel, 
SUdarabische  Owestomathie,  p.  127).     We  might  be  tempted  to  combine  this 

*  This  combination  is,  of  course,  purely  conjectural ;  the  relation  between  the 
old  tribe  Levi  and  the  Levite  priests  is  involved  in  the  densest  obscurity.  See  We., 
Frol^.,^.  146  f. 

t  Ch.  178  comes  from  a  different  source.  There  is  no  reason  to  question  the 
genuineness  of  the  words  D'r  nj  Nini  in  v.'^,  as  Smend  is  inclined  to  do. 

\  We.,  Sta.,  WRSmith,  Nold.  Leah  is  perhaps  "the  wild  cow  tribe";  Nold., 
al.     For  another  hypothesis,  see  Jastrow,  JBL.  xi.  p,  121. 

^^  Levi  appears  to  have  been  more  completely  destroyed  than  Simeon;  cf. 
Jud.  i3. 17. 


XVII.  7-IO  •^,Sc 

with  the  Arab,  ia-vlya,  a  portion  of  food  set  aside  for  an  honoured  guest  (cf. 
I  S.  9'-3),  which  We.  had  noted  {Kesie  nrab.  I/eiiientumes,  y.  114  n.) ;  the 
laiulya  would  be  originally  the  priest's  portion.  —  du'  ->i  sim]  the  verb  -^j  is 
used  of  one  who  resides  among  men  of  another  elan,  tribe,  or  people,  where, 
as  he  is  without  the  protection  of  his  own  kin,  he  must  depend  for  protection 
on  some  individual  or  family  of  the  community,  whose  client  he  becomes;  sec 
Nowack,  I/ebr.  Archliologie,  i.  p.  336  fi".;  W.  R.  Smith,  Kdif^on  of  Ihc  Semiles, 
p.  75  ff.  The  sentence  does  not  allow  us  to  interpret  the  words,  he  resided 
there,  as  referring  to  his  former  residence  at  Ucthlehcm;  there  can  only  be,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Micah's  home. 

8.  From  the  first  narrative  ;  see  above  on  v.^  It  must  have 
been  preceded  by  a  sentence  or  two,  introducing  this  Invite ; 
perhaps  simply,  "Now  there  was  a  Levite  from  i^ethlehem  of 
Judah."  This  was  omitted  by  the  editor,  as  a  doublet  to  v.' ; 
only  the  last  words,  from  Bethlehem  of  Judah ^  were  inserted  by 
him  from  this  source  in  v7  and  v.^,  in  both  of  which  they  are  out 
of  place.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Levites  of  ch.  17,  18,  and  of 
19-21  all  come  from  Judah,  and  two  of  them,  at  least,  from 
Bethlehem.  It  is  a  not  improbable  surmise  that  the  fragments  of 
the  broken  tribe  of  Levi  attached  themselves  to  Judah,  as  Simeon 
did.  A  close  connexion  with  Judah  is  indicated  also  by  the  names 
of  Levite  families  such  as  Libni,  Hebron!,  Qorhi ;  Korah  (Qorah) 
was  originally  a  clan  of  Judah.* — And  the  man  went  from  the 
city  (from  Bethlehem  of  Judah)  to  live  where  he  should  find  a 
place']  not  necessarily  seeking  employment  as  a  priest.  In  the 
course  of  his  wanderings,  he  came  to  the  part  of  the  Highlands 
of  Ephraim  in  which  Micah  lived.  The  words,  as  he  journeyed 
(EV).,|  lit.  i?i  making,  or,  to  make  his  journey,  represent  an 
unusual  phrase  in  Hebrew,  and  may  perhaps  better  be  translated, 
to  accojnplish  the  object  of  his  jou7'ney  ;  see  crit.  note.  —  9.  Micah 
learns  who  and  what  the  stranger  is.  — 10.  He  hires  him  as  his 
priest.  —  Stay  with  me  and  be  my  fatJicr  and  priest]  iS''"* ;  father 
is  a  title  of  respect  given  to  prophets  (2  K.  6*'  &c.)  and  priests,  as 
also  to  the  king's  chief  minister  or  vizier  (Gen.  45").  The  con- 
necting notion  is  probably  that  of  a  revered  adviser,  counsellor ; 
the  use  of  the  word  father  in  our  text  does  not  necessarily  imply 


*  We.,  Israelitisc-he  u.  jiidischc  Gcschichte,  p.  151  n. 

t  So  most  interpreters ;  he  had  no  intention  of  staying  there  ;  Ki.,  Schm.,  Clcr.,al. 
2C 


386  JUDGES 

that  this  Levite  was  a  man  of  mature  years,  in  contrast  to  the 
^  youth  '  of  vJ*  —  /  wi//  give  thee  ten  shekels  of  silver  a  yeai\  and 
a  eomplele  suit  of  apparel,  and  thy  living]  the  man  lived  in  Micah's 
house  (i8^^).  The  offer  was  evidently  regarded  as  an  advanta- 
geous one  for  the  Levite.  — 11.  The  Levite  agreed  to  stay  with  the 
7Jia7i]  these  words  should  follow  immediately  upon  Micah's  offer, 
v.^"* ;  the  last  words  of  v.^",  and  the  Levite  went,  which  now  inter- 
pose, have  either  arisen  by  transcriptional  accident  or  are  a  frag- 
ment of  the  other  source,  t  —  A7id  the  youth  was  to  him  as  one  of 
his  sons']  this  half-verse  belongs  to  the  second  narrative  (v.-'"'''); 
the  young  Judaean  Levite,  who  resided  there,  and  was  perhaps  a 
client  of  Micah,  becomes  like  a  son  to  him.  — 12.  And  Mieah 
installed  the  Levite,  and  the  youth  becanie  his  priest]  \^.  I  am 
inclined  to  ascribe  the  whole  of  this  half-verse  to  the  second 
narrator,  continuing  v."^ ;  though  the  first  clause  would  fit  equally 
well  in  the  other  version,  after  v."*.  The  second  half- verse  :  And 
he  was  in  Micah's  house,  belongs  to  the  first  account  (after  v.""") ; 
the  young  Levite  of  the  other  has  a  house  of  his  own  (i8^^).  The  ■ 
union  of  the  two  sources  has  led  to  a  multiphcation  of  explicit 
subjects.  — 13.  Micah  is  greatly  elated  by  his  good  fortune. — 
Now  I  know  that  Yahweh  will  prosper  i7ie,  because  /  have  got  the 
Levite  as  priest]  the  close  of  the  first  narrative.  Micah's  son, 
who  had  temporarily  filled  the  place,  was,  after  all,  only  a  layman 
in  such  things ;  he  confides  more  in  the  knowledge  and  skill  of 
the  trained  priest,  and  is  assured  that  under  the  guidance  of  such 
an  interpreter  of  the  mind  of  Yahweh  he  will  prosper  in  every- 
thing. 

8.  iDm  nirj;'?]  'tti  rw-^  does  not,  I  believe,  occur  in  the  O.T.,  natural  as 
the  phrase  'make  a  journey'  appears  to  us;  ^m  is  often  'errand,  mission, 
ol)jcct  of  a  journey';  cf.  iS^-^  —  10.  z^^rii-b']  annually ;  2  S.  1420.  —  3nj3  r^iy] 
Ex.  40-3 ;  the  pieces  of  raiment  laid  out  in  order.  —  '^^'.'''791]  6'*;  victtis.  —  iSm 
''i'?n]  cannot  stand  thus  before  nSn  Sxn.  %  Possibly  a  scribe  wrote  by  mistake, 
'J1  riv"^  ii'?n  "iSi-i,  which  was  afterwards  corrected  by  himself,  or  a  later  hand, 
by  the  insertion  of  the  correct  mSh  Snim.  The  alternative  is  to  suppose  that 
the  former  words  are  a  stray  fragment  of  the  other  version  of  the  story;  but  it 
is  not  easy  to  see  where  they  could  be  brought  in. 

♦  Joseph  was  a  father  to  the  Pharaoh  (Gen.  458).  though  but  a  young  man. 

t  Corruption  of  the  text  is  recognized  by  Stud,,  Be.,  al, 

\  Note  the  attempt  of  ©M  to  relieve  this  difficulty  by  transposition. 


XVll.  lo-XVIII.  387 

XVIII.  1-7.  The  Danites  send  out  an  exploring  party,  who 
halt  at  Micah's  village  and  consult  his  oracle.  —  ///  those  days, 
&'c.']  see  on  17*^;  editorial  comment  on  the  irregularities  related 
in  the  preceding  verses.  Jerome  erroneously  joined  the  words  to 
the  following  :  In  diebus  illis  no7i  erat  rex  in  Israely  et  iribiis  Dan 
quaerebat  possessionem  sibi,  &:c.,  and  was  naturally  followed  in  the 
division  of  the  chapters  which  was  introduced  in  the  Latin  J'ible 
in  the  13th  century,  and  from  it  into  the  printed  Hebrew  IJiblc.*  — 
And  in  those  days  t/ie  tribe  of  the  Danites  ivas  seeking  for  itself  a 
territory  to  settie~\  and  is  inserted  by  the  editor  to  regain  his  con- 
nexion after  the  introduction  of  v.^*".  Territofy :  properly  estate, 
hereditary  possession  in  land.  The  following  sentence,  as  it  stands, 
must  be  translated :  For  there  had  not  fallen  to  it,  up  to  that 
time,  among  the  tribes  of  Israel  [anything]  as  a  possession.  The 
verb  has  no  subject,  the  construction  is  harsh,  the  phraseology 
suggests  a  later  hand,  and  possibly  the  whole  clause  is  a  correct 
gloss  to  the  preceding.     See  crit.  note. 

1.  "ijin  tD3*J']  cf.  Dt.  10^  29''.  In  the  genealogical  system,  Dan  and  Naphtali 
form  a  subordinate  group  (Bilhah)  of  the  Rachel  tribes,  and  are  thus  connected, 
though  not  on  an  equal  footing,  with  Joseph  and  Benjamin.  The  Danites  first 
attempted  to  establish  themselves  on  the  SW.  of  Joseph,  but  were  prevented 
by  the  native  Amorite  population  from  gaining  or  maintaining  a  hold  in  the 
maritime  plain,  and  were  pushed  back  into  the  hills  in  the  angle  between 
Ephraim  and  Judah  (Jud.  r^^).  As  narrated  in  the  chapter  before  us,  and 
more  briefly  in  Jos.  19*'  (cf.  6),  the  greater  part  of  the  tril)e  migrated  to  the 
extreme  north,  where  they  settled  at  the  sources  of  the  Jordan.  Notwith- 
standing the  census,  Nu.  i^^  26^^  which  gives  Dan  over  60,000  fighting  men, 
the  tribe  was  apparently  always  a  small  one.  But  one  son  (clan)  of  Dan  is 
named  in  the  genealogies  (c-fn  Gen.  46^3,  cmu'  Nu.  26-»2).  In  Jud.  Dan  itself 
is  called  a  clan  (nn3i:'c,  v.-'-  "■  ^^  cf.  132),  perhaps  more  accurately  than  a  tribe 
(pz-'i^) ;  t  the  six  hundred  fighting  men  who  migrated  seem  to  have  been  the 
major  part  of  the  tribe.  In  the  Song  of  Deborah  Dan  is  reproached  for 
standing  aloof  from  the  national  cause  (5^').  The  reputation  of  the  Danites 
for  boldness,  doubtless  displayed  in  forays  and  attacks  on  caravans  rather  than 
in  war,  is  celebrated  in  Gen.  49IG-18  Dt.  3f-.  In  the  later  history  of  Israel 
Dan  plays  no  part.  It  appears  in  the  rolls,  i  Chr.  I2=»^  27--,  but  is  missing  in 
the  genealogies,  i  Chr.  2-12,  and  in  the  N.T.  Apocalypse,  75-7.  — iV  n'?£3j  nS  '3 


*  See  "The  Vulgate  Chapters  and   Numbered  Verses  in  the  Hebrew  Bible, 
yBL.  xii.  1893,  p.  73-78. 
f  See  R.  Jesaia  on  wM. 


388  JUDGES 

.  .  .  n^nj3]  cf.  Ez.  47^^  Nu.  54-  26^^^.  transitively  Ez.  47^2  45I  esp.  Jos.  136  23*.* 
The  subject  or  object  in  all  these  cases  is  the  land  of  Canaan  or  its  inhabitants; 
Stud,  would  supply  here  v-ixn. 

2.  The  redundancies  of  the  verse  are  due  to  the  union  of  two 
closely  parallel  accounts.  One  of  these  seems  to  have  told  the 
story  somewhat  as  follows  :  The  Danites  sent  five  men  of  their 
clan  from  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  to  spy  out  the  land.  And  they 
came  to  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim  and  halted  there  for  the  night. 
The  other  may  be  reconstructed  :  They  sent  able  men,  represent- 
ing the  whole  tribe,  and  said  to  them,  Go  explore  the  land.  —  Of 
their  clan']  v."  cf.  13^  with  the  note  there,  ly''.  The  word  may, 
however,  be  pronounced  as  a  plural,  of  their  several  clans ;  see 
critical  note.  The  parallel  in  the  second  source  is,  of  their  vari- 
ous branches  (lit.  extremities'),  out  of  all  parts  of  the  tribe;    cf. 

1  K.  12^^  13^^  2  K.  17^-'.  —  Men  of  ability]  the  word  is  sometimes 
used  of  personal  qualities,  courage,  prowess,  skill,  virtue,  some- 
times of  property;  cf.  i  S.  9^  14^^  &c. ;  see  crit.  note.  —  Zorah 
and  Eshtaol]  the  seats  of  the  Danites  in  the  story  of  Samson ; 
see  on  13-  i6'''\  and  above,  p.  372.  —  To  spy  out  the  la^id]  v.^''-^^, 
the  verb.  Gen.  42^-  ^^-  ^^-  ^^  Nu.  2 1^-  Jos.  6"«"-  f  &c.  —  And  to  explore 
it]  see  the  next  clause ;    the  two  verbs  are  similarly  coupled  in 

2  S.  io\  —  And  they  came  to  the  Highlands  of  Ephrai^n,  to 
Mic all's  home,  afid  halted  there  for  the  night]  this  has  a  complete 
parallel  in  the  following  verse.  —  3.  As  they  ivere  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Mic  ah' s  home,  they  recognized  the  voice  of  the  young  Levite, 
and  turned  aside  thither]  the  young  Levite  belongs  to  the  second 
version  of  the  story  in  ch.  17  ;  see  above,  p.  367  f.  In  what  way 
they  recognized  his  voice  (i  S.  26^'')  we  are  not  told ;  most  inter- 
preters think  of  some  peculiarities  of  dialect  such  as  betrayed  the 
Ephraimites  (12*^),  which  showed  that  he  was  a  southerner  and 
not  a  native  of  Mt.  Ephraim.f  Others  imagine  that  they  heard 
him  reciting  prayers  or  hymns,  from  which  they  knew  that  he  was 
a  Levite ;  %  we  should  then  have  to  understand  their  question. 
What  art  thou  doing  in  this  place  ?  to  be  merely  the  expression 
of  their  surprise  that  a  Levite  was  practising  his  calling  at  a  place 


*  For  other  examples  see  Drus.,  in  loc. 

fa  Lyra,  Drus.,  J  H  Mich.,  Stud.,  al.  X  Abarb.,  Bfc. 


XVIII.  2-7  389 

where  there  was  no  public  temple  or  frequented  holy  place.  The 
most  natural  explanation  of  the  words  is,  that  the  Danites  had 
formerly  known  the  young  man ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  impos- 
sible that  the  author  of  this  version  of  the  story  meant  to  be 
so  understood.  He  does  not  tell  us  where  the  young  Judaean 
Levite's  former  home  was;*  and  may  have  imagined  him  as 
living  near  the  Danite  settlements  (of.  i5''«-).f  _ /( y,^,  brought 
thee  hither,  and  7vhat  art  thou  doing  here,  and  what  ix  thy  business 
here .?]  the  multiplication  of  questions,  of  which  the  last  two  arc 
almost  exactly  parallel,  is  best  explained  as  the  result  of  the  union 
of  two  sources.  The  first  two  clauses  must  be  taken  together, 
and  may  with  some  probability  be  ascribed  to  the  second  of  the 
two  accounts.  %  — 4.  Gives  the  priest's  answer  from  both  sources. 
—  Thus  and  so  Micah  has  done  to  me']  as  has  been  related  above 
(ly"^'^'^)-  —  -^^  hired  vie  and  I  became  his  priest]  ly'""". — 
5,  6.  They  bid  the  priest  consult  the  oracle  for  them,  to  know 
whether  their  expedition  will  be  successful.  The  consultation  of 
the  oracle  may  have  had  a  place  in  both  narratives  ;  v.-'^*',  however, 
seem  to  be  homogeneous,  and  to  belong  to  the  first  version  of  the 
story  (the  priest,  y^'').%— Inquire  of  God]  i',  cf.  i  S.  23-- "••'•'-'=' 
2Q7f.  j^isf.  ^  Y^  2  2^^-  &c.  Upon  such  a  question  the  will  of  (Jod 
was  probably  ascertained  by  the  use  of  the  lot  in  some  form ;  see 
especially  i  S.  14^^^-  (^.  || — 6.  The  response  is  favourable;  the 
expedition  is  under  the  eye  of  Yahweh ;  he  sees  and  takes  cogni- 
zance of  it.  There  is  no  ground  for  regarding  the  phrase  as  an 
example  of  oracular  ambiguity.^  —  7.  The  party  proceeds  on  its 
way,  and  finds  in  Laish  a  place  whose  broad  and  fertile  fields 
excite  their  cupidity,  while  its  isolated  situation  and  tjie  unsus- 
pecting security  of  its  inhabitants  promise  to  make  it  an  easy 
conquest.  —  Laish]  ox  Leshem  (Jos.  iq"*^),  under  the  later  name, 
Dan  (v.^),  often  mentioned  in  the  O.T.  as  the  most  northern 

*  See  on  17". 

t  From  Bethlehem  of  Judah,  17^,  is  derived  from  the  parallel  narrative,  and  may 
possibly  have  supplanted  a  conflicting  statement  about  the  young  I^cvite's  home. 

X  Assuming  that  the  first  half-verse  is  correctly  interpreted  above. 

§  Bu.  ascribes  vp-  6a  to  the  first  source;  v.Cb  to  the  other. 

II  Urim  and  Thummim  :  We.,  TDS.,  p.  93  f. ;  Dr.,  TBS.,  p.  89;  see  also  above 
on  175. 

T  Schm.,  JHMich. ;  against  this  view,  Stud. 


390  JUDGES 

settlement  of  Israel,*  was  not  far  from  the  Lebanon  and  the 
sources  of  the  Jordan,  f  According  to  Eusebius  it  was  four  miles 
distant  from  Paneas  (Banias)  on  the  road  to  Tyre.  X  The  name 
is  preserved  in  the  modern  Tell  el-Qadi,  §  a  large  mound  at  less 
than  an  hour's  distance  from  Banias,  at  the  foot  of  which  are  two 
great  springs  which  feed  the  most  copious  of  the  sources  of  the 
Jordan.  ||  Several  ancient  writers  confuse  Dan  with  the  neigh- 
bouring Paneas,^  and  this  identification  has  recently  found  a 
defender  in  G.  A.  Smith.**  —  In  the  following  clauses  the  union 
of  the  two  narratives  has  occasioned  not  only  repetition  but  gram- 
matical discord.  One  of  the  accounts  seems  to  have  read  :  They 
found  the  people  who  were  in  it  undisturbed  and  secure ;  the 
other :  They  found  the  dty  dwelling  in  security,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Phoenicians  (an  unwarlike  trading  folk) .  The  continuation 
of  the  former  is  probably  :  An^  they  were  remote  frojn  the  Phoe- 
nicians^ and  had  nothing  to  do  with  any  one  e/se']  many  Greek 
manuscripts  read  here,tt  nothing  to  do  with  Syria,  which  is  pre- 
ferred by  Budde.  Laish  lay  in  the  valley  belonging  to  Beth-rehob 
(v.-^),  which  was  in  David's  time  a  petty  Aramaean  kingdom 
(2  S.  10^)  ;  the  Aramaeans  of  Maachah  (il>.,  i  Chr.  iq*^)  were 
probably  also  neighbours,  cf.  Abel  (meadow  of)  Beth-maachah.  || 
The  reading  Syria  {arani)  is  therefore  not  intrinsically  improba- 
ble ;  but  the  Hebrew  text  gives  a  perfectly  good  sense,  and  the 
external  attestation  of  aram  is  too  slight  to  weigh  against  it.  The 
intervening  clauses  are  unintelligible.  The  translation  in  RV., 
"  For  there  was  none  in  the  land,  possessing  authority,  that  might 
put  them  to  shame  in  anything,"  §§  cannot  be  extorted  from  the 

*  "  From  Dan  to  Beersheba  "  (20I)  is  a  standing  phrase  for  the  whole  length  of 
Palestine.  f  Fl.  Jos.,  aiitt.  v.  3,  i  ^  178,  cf.  viii.  8,  4  §  226. 

X  OS'^.  27<ip^'>  24900,  cf.  Jerome,  z3.  13611. 
§  The  Arabic  Qddl,  like  the  Hebrew  Da?t,  means  judge. 

II  See  Thomson,  Bibl.  Sacra,  1846,  p.  196  ff. ;  Rob.,  BR^.,  ii.  p.  439,  iii.  p.  390- 
393  ;  Gu6rin,  Galilee,  ii.  p.  338  ff. ;  ^  WP.  Mei?toirs,  \.  p.  139  ff. ;  Bad^.,  p.  265  f.  See 
also  Le  Strange,  Palestine  u?ider  the  Moslems,  p.  418  f. 

II  So,  e.g.  Thdt. ;  see  Reland,  Palaestina,  p.  918  f.;  Thomson,  I.e. 
**  Hist.  Geogr.,  p.  473,  480  f.    Smith  argues  that  Paneas  was  a  place  of  much 
greater  strength  than  Tell  cl-Qadl,  commanding  the  entrance  to  the  valley ;    and 
that  without  the  possession  of  Paneas  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold  Tell  el-Qadi. 
-ti"  But  not  in  the  corresponding  passage,  v.28;  see  crit,  note. 
]:t  2  S.  20I4. 15. 18.  ^^  Similarly  Ki.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Cass.,  al.  mu. 


XVTTI.  7  3C)i 

Hebrew  text  with  a  rack,  and  is  nonsense  when  clone.  Bertheau 
would  emend,  in  conformity  with  v.'",  there  is  no  lack  of  a n\ thing 
in  the  land*  and  strike  out  the  two  following  words,  which  he 
renders,  possessing  wealth,  as  a  gloss.  For  a  different  conjecture, 
see  crit.  note. 

2.  □rin£3C'co]  ilHlLSSE  sing.;  better  perhaps  orns^i-c::,  pliir.  (5.  —  3.-iS|-ic] 
elsewhere,  in  a  similar  use,  only  in  the  phrase,  oyn  nvipc;  f  sec  the  passages 
cited  in  the  text,  and  of.  Ez.  33'-^  Gen.  47'-.  —  '?"'n  >j3]  2  S.  2^  13-8  Dt.  3'"; 

1  S.  1 817  2  S.  1710  &c.;  h>n  ti'ns  Jud.  3-^  plur.  20«-'»«;  ^^n  no.i  G^'^  ni.  —  ^j^S 
V-iN.-i  px]  see  also  Dt.  i^4  Jqs.  2^  i  S.  26*  2  S.  151*^;  Bu.  {Kic/it.  u.  Sam.,  p.  145) 
notes  that  the  word  is  found  most  frequently  in  E,  to  which  source  he  is  dis- 
posed to  attribute  this  version  of  our  story.  —  3.  n^-^  ro  c;*  n::nj  on  the 
construction  see  on  15^*.  —  4.    nni  nrr]  2  S.  1 1^5  i  K.  14'' ♦;   cf.  rsoi  PNro 

2  S.  1 5^5.  nr  is  not  here  fern,  (apocopation  of  pnt  as  in  MIL);  %  were  the 
two  genders  put  side  by  side,  the  feminine  would  not  stand  first;  it  is  pri^bably 
only  a  case  of  dissimilation  (Ew.  §  105  b).  —  5.  u^m  n^s — >]  /H  pronounces 
transitively  (Hiph.),  but  if  fn  is  subject,  we  require  the  Kal,  r^^j  -i  (Jet.  12') ; 
we  must  either  pronounce  thus  (that  we  may  know  whether  our  expedition 
will  succeed;  so  (gBXALSM  g)  q^  emend,  n''^s>n  (whether  he  will  give  success 
to  our  expedition;  (J5P^'Oii-,§  cf.  Gen.  2^^'^').  The  former  alternative  is  the 
more  probable  (SS.).  — 6.  Di'^'^S  idS]  Ex.  4^8  i  S.  i^^  20^2  2  K.  5^^  &c.— 
nin^  HDj]  cf.  Prov.  521  Ez.  14^.  —7.  nr^J;]  locative  of  r;^:  v."-  ""■  ^.  In  Jos.  19" 
the  name  twice  occurs  in  the  form  or^  iJH;  \^Q.{De  gentibus  tt  fatn.  jud,, 
p.  37)  would  pronounce  lesham,  DJT^,  after  the  analogy  of  oa^y  from  O'?. 
Another  vh  or  r\vh  in  Benjamin,  Is.  lo^'';  cf.  Palti  ben  Laish,  i  S.  25^*. — 
ntD^'^  PDirii]  the  ptcp.  cannot  agree  with  d;;?  (cf.  njin  ^z^^z'  immediately  below) ;  || 
neither  can  it  agree  with  the  suff.  in  n^npa  (videruntque  populum,  qui  in  medio 
ejus,  habitantis  juxta  morem  Zidoniorum  secure,  quietum  et  conlidentem; 
Schm.),  JHMich.,  Be.,  Roorda,  §  458;  and  even  if  we  could  accept  this 
explanation  of  the  construction,  the  tautology  would  remain  (Stud.).  The 
fem.  nna'P  refers,  to  the  city ;  and  in  its  original  context  was  probably  pre- 
ceded by  some  such  words  as,  n>>n  nx  in-;c^i,  or,  t:'>^  rx;  cf.  Jer.  n^^  Is.  47** 
Zeph.  2i^.  Cler.  would  emend  3"'V  to  restore  the  concord.  With  the  phrase 
n-^^S  PStt'i"'  cf.  Is.  478  Zeph.  2^5;  living  confidently,  without  apprehension; 
here  of  false  security,  fearing  no  foe,  taking  no  precautions,  as  in  8''. — 
2"'n"'X  tODtr'CD]   not  Dij^xn;    in  Phoenician  fashion.  —  rabi  ::i"2i;']  v.^';    for  the 


*  So  also  Ru. ;  Ra.  endeavours  to  extract  this  sense  from  ffl. 

t  Not,  of  the  lowest  of  tlie  people,  but  of  all  sorts  of  people  ;  see  Ki.  on  i  K.  l-^^. 

X  So,  e.g.,  Be.,  Driver  in  BDIL,  Buhl,  and  most. 

^  These  codd.  represent,  not  a  different  reading,  but  a  diflrerent  construction  of 
the  Greek  verb. 

II  Ki.  cites  Ex.  s^c  Jer.  8^  as  instances  in  which  c;  is  construed  as  fern.,  but  m 
both  the  text  is  clearly  at  fault. 


392  JUDGES 

former  verb  see  3^1.  —  ins^  131  D"''^d:d  |''Ni]  thei'e  was  no  one  to  put  them  to 
shame  (or,  insult  them)  in  anything,  is  wholly  irrelevant.  The  versions  give 
no  help.  The  conjecture,  fiNj  1319  vsVpn  pxi,  there  is  no  one  to  restrain  (us) 
fro7}i  ajiything  in  the  land,  involves  the  least  change  in  the  consonant  text, 
but  is  entirely  unsupported.*  —  "\.x>J  '^y"''\  these  words  are  even  more  difficult 
than  those  which  precede;  is;?  ^  is  taken  by  most  to  mean  atithority  (lit. 
'  restraint,  coercion  '),  cf.  the  vb.  I  S.  9^'  2  Chr.  14^°;  so  Abulw.,  Ki.,  al.  mu.; 
by  others  it  is  rendered,  wealth,  treasure  ((©It),  in  support   of  which   the 

Arab.  w^L&,  a  man  became  rich,  came  to  have  the  comforts  of  life  in  abun- 
dance, is  cited  (Ges.  Thes.,  Stud.,  Be.,  al.).  It  is  more  probable,  however, 
that  the  verb  led  the  ancient  translators  to  guess  that  li'y  was  equivalent  to 
isiN.f  The  text  appears  to  be  incurably  corrupt;  the  words  are  hardly  a 
gloss  (Be.,  Bu.).  — 2nN  c>'  nnS  r^  "'J^i]  ^  <^^^  21^:  ^^pslmo  g  ^  ^^l  \6yos 
ovK  fjv  avToh  ^era  llvplas  (ois) ;  so  also  in  the  long  addition  which  these 
manuscripts  have  in  v.^,  but  in  v.^^  they  also  read  /xera  avdpdnrov.  In  both  the 
old  Hebrew  alphabet  and  the  square  character  i  is  so  often  mistaken  for  n, 
and  vice  versa,  that  such  variations  have  little  authority.  The  words  have 
been  differently  understood:  they  had  no  alliance  (Ra.,  Ki.,  Schm.,  Stud.), 
or,  they  had  no  controversy,  quarrel  (Cler.). 

8-10.  The  report  of  the  exploring  party.  —  The  spies  return, 
and  urge  their  tribesmen  to  set  out  at  once  against  Laish,  whose 
wide  and  fertile  lands  they  praise  in  glowing  language,  while  from 
its  isolated  location  and  the  false  security  of  its  people  they  augur 
an  easy  conquest.  —  The  narrative  is  redundant  and  confused, 
and  the  text  not  wholly  in  order.  In  v.^  ^  has  a  long  addition, 
which,  in  part  at  least,  may  be  genuine.  —  8.  And  their  clansmen 
said  to  them,  What  do  you  ....?]  the  verb  seems  to  be  lacking ; 
if  the  text  is  sound,  we  might  restore,  report ;  what  word  do  you 
bring  back  ?  \  One  of  the  Greek  versions  puts  the  words  into  the 
mouth  of  the  spies  :  The  five  men  came  to  their  clansmen,  to 
Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  and  said  to  their  clansmen.  Why  are  you 
sitting  idle  ?  §  Budde  emends  accordingly,  and  his  reconstruction 
is  commended  by  the  fact  that  it  also  disposes  satisfactorily  of  the 
first  words  of  v.^'',  which  in  Jif  form  an  abrupt  and  awkward 
exclamation.  In  the  other  recensions  of  ({f  we  read  :  Up  !  let  us 
march  against  them;  for, we  entered  and  went  about  in  the  land 
as  far  as  Laish,  and  we  saw  the  people  that  inhabit  it  in  security, 


*  See  The  Book  ofjudges  in  Hebrew,  in  loo. ;  and  Scharfenberg,  Animadversiones, 
ii.  p.  79  f.         t  Cler.         +  Cf.  Ra.,  Ki.,  al.  mu.    But  see  crit.  note.         ^S  ©BN. 


XVITI.   8-12 


393 


&c.  We  may  be  inclined  to  see  at  least  in  the  words,  we  entered 
and  went  about  in  t/ie  land  as  far  as  Lais/i,  a  part  of  the  original 
text ;  in  %}  the  place  to  which  ihey  propose  to  lead  their  clansmen 
is  not  named  at  all.  A  satisfactory  reconstruction  of  the  sources 
is  hardly  possible.*  —  9.    [//>,  and  let  us  ,<,v  at^ainst  theni'\  cf.  i'-\ 

—  We  have  seen  the  land,  and  it  is  very  fertile^  the  words  would 
seem  to  imply  that  the  party  had  Laish  in  view  when  they  set  out ; 
this  would  also  explain  the  suffix,  against  them,  just  before,  which 
leads  Budde  to  suspect  the  text.  —  And  you  are  sitting  idle  /] 
when  you  have  such  an  opportunity.  The  exclamation  is  some- 
what harsh  ;  Why  are  you  sitting  idle  ?  would  be  better.f  —  Do 
not  delay  to  go  to  occupy  the  land~\  this  seems  to  have  been  fol- 
lowed in  the  original  context  by  the  words,  for  God  has  given  it 
into  your  power,  v.^°"^.  — 10.  The  region  is  of  wide  extent^  the 
territory  which  will  fall  into  your  hands  by  the  capture  of  the  city ; 
cf.  Gen.  3T-^  Is.  22^^  Neh.  'f.  Compare  particularly  the  account 
of  the  raid  of  the  Simeonites,  i  Chr.  4^*^- 

8.  DHN  no  an^ns  an'^  ncsM]  the  context  of  |^  requires  us  to  supply  some- 
thing like  -^31  DO^-f-p  (Ra.);  cf.  2  S.  241^  Nu.  13-''.  t  (3  ri  vfieTs  K6.dri<T0e; 
Bu.  conjectures  that  Kadrjffde  represents  D"'irno  v.'-'k  Against  this  it  is  proper 
to  say  that  Kddr]fx.aL  never  translates  nii'nn  or  ir-nnn;  d'w'hc  is  variously  rendered 
by  (5  in  v.^  i]crvxo.^eT€,  cnwiraTe,  d/xeXeiTe.  We  might  explain  KaOrja-de  by  cor- 
ruption of  a"'3C'D  ans  (haplography),  falsely  corrected  aoc*\  <5^^  xal  (lirov 
rots  d5eX0o?s  avrdv.     On  the  text  see  further,  T/ie  Book  of  fudt^fs  in  Ilebrnv. 

—  nr:ip]  read  icip,  with  codd.  and  old  edd.  (Houbigant).  — 10.  an>  rom] 
stretching  wide  to  right  and  left. 

11-13.  The  Danites  set  out  on  their  migration.  —  Six  hundred 
armed  men,  with  their  women  and  children,  their  flocks,  and  all 
their  movable  property  (v.-^),  migrate  from  Zorah  and  Eshtaol. 
They  encamp  in  the  vicinity  of  Kirjath-jearim,  whence  they  pass 
to  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim.  The  verses  belong  chiefly,  if  not 
entirely,  to  the  first  version  of  the  story.  §  — 11.  Six  hundred 
men  girt  with  weapons  of  war'\  in  fighting  order.  — 12.  They 
mcaniped  at  KirjatJi-jearini  in  Judali]   Eusebius  puts   Kirjath- 

*  For  an  attempt,  see  Bu.,  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  141.        f  Budde;  see  above  on  v.8. 
+  Cf.,  however,  Ru.  31°,  ^T\Z  T\^~^'- ;   Davidson,  Syntax,  p.  7. 
6  Only  in  the  words,  thence  .  . .  /rom  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  is  Ihcrc  an  appearance 
of  duplication. 


394  JUDGES 

jearim  nine  or  ten  miles  from  Jerusalem  on  the  road  to  Diospolis 
(Lydda,  Ludd) ;  *  it  is  identified  by  Robinson  with'  Qaryet  el- 
'Ineb,  better  known  as  Abii  Ghosh ;  f  but  this  is  by  no  means 
certain.  J  Kirjath-jearim  was  one  of  the  cities  of  the  Gibeonite 
confederacy,  Jos.  9^'.  From  i  S.  6~^  7^-  it  appears  that  in  the  time 
of  Samuel  it  was  inhabited,  at  least  chiefly,  by  Judahites.  In 
Judah,  in  the  verse  before  us,  is  merely  topographical,  and  does 
not  certainly  warrant  the  inference  that  the  Judaean  occupation 
goes  back  to  as  remote  a  time  as  that  in  which  the  action  of  this 
chapter  falls.  —  On  this  account  the  people  gave  the  place  the  name 
Mahaneh  Dan  (Dan's  Camp),  which  it  bears  to  the  p?'esent  day. 
It  lies  west  of  Kirjath-jearini\  lit.  behind  it;  see  note  on  i6^§ 
Whether  this  explanation  of  the  origin  of  the  name  is  historical 
may  be  questioned.  The  persistence  of  such  a  name  would  sug- 
gest a  permanent  encampment  rather  than  a  transient  halting  place 
in  the  migration  of  the  tribe;  see  also  on  13"^.  ||  Kirjath-jearim 
was  but  two  or  three  hours  distant  from  Zorah  and  Eshtaol,  and  a 
close  connexion  between  the  places  is  assumed  in  the  genealogies 
in  I  Chr.  2^°-  ^-"^^,  which  may  perhaps  be  interpreted  as  indicating 
that  Zorah  and  Eshtaol  were  in  post-exilic  times  colonized  from 
Kirjath-jearim  (observe  also  the  Manoahites,  v.'^--^^)  ;  the  popula- 
tion was  then  Calebite.  — 13.  Thence  they  moved  on  to  the  High- 
lands of  Ephraim,  and  came  to  Micah's  home. 

14-21.   The  Danites  take  possession  of  Micah's  idols.  —  The 

members  of  the  exploring  party  inform  their  clansmen  that  there 
is  an  idol  and  oracle  in  the  village,  and  they  at  once  resolve  to 
carry  them  off.  —  The  account  of  the  way  in  which  they  got 
possession  of  the  images  is  badly  confused  by  interpolations  and 
glosses,  and  baffles  emendation  or  analysis.  It  seems  that  in  the 
first  narrative  the  six  hundred  armed  men  halted  at  the  entrance 
of  the  village,  while  the  five  spies,  who  knew,  from  their  former 
visit,  where  the  sacred  things  were,  went  to  get  them.     They  were 

*  0S\  Qrj\^  cf.  23494. 

t  Z?A'2.  ii.  p.  II  f.;  Tobler,  Topographic,  ii.  p.  742  ff. ;  Guerin,  Judee,  i.  p.  62  ff. 
tBadS.,  p.  19.      Henderson  and  Conder  propose  Khirljet  'Erma;    see  SWP. 
Memoirs,  iii.  p.  43-52;  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geogr.,  p.  225  f. 
^  The  last  sentence  is  a  note  or  gloss  of  later  date, 
il  See  Schick,  ZDPV.  x.  p.  137  ;  Guthe,  ib.  n.     Cf.  Time,  iv.  42,  2. 


XVTTT.  12-16 


395 


challenged  by  the  priest,  who  demaiuled  what  they  were  about. 
They  bade  him  hold  his  peace  and  come  with  them  to  be  the 
tribe's  priest.  He  took  the  ephod  and  terapkim^  and  went  with 
them.  The  second  account  related  how,  when  they  were  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Micah's  home,  they  turned  aside  thither  and 
came  to  the  house  of  the  young  Levite  and  saluted  him  (v.'').* 
What  followed  is  not  preserved,  or  is  not  certainly  recognizable  in 
the  present  context ;  the  author  must  have  narrated  how  they 
went  to  the  house  of  Micah  and  carried  off  the  idol  {pesei  and 
viassekaJi)  .^  Probably  in  this  version  also  the  Levite  was  per- 
suaded to  accompany  them  ;  it  is  hardly  to  be  supi:)osed  that  the 
author  would  have  said  so  much  about  him  in  ch.  17  unless  he 
played  a  part  in  the  subsequent  story.  — 14.  From  the  first 
account.  —  The  word  Laish,  which  is  wanting  in  many  copies 
of  (J^,  is  obviously  a  gloss.  —  Do  you  know  that  there  are  in  these 
houses  an  ephod  and  teraphvm .?]  Micah  evidently  lived  in  a  small 
open  village.  The  words,  and  a  graven  image  and  a  molten  image 
{pesel  and  massekah)^  are  added  by  the  editor  ;  see  above,  p.  366. 
—  A?id  now  tnake  up  your  minds  what  you  will  do~\  cf.  i  S.  25''. 
No  more  than  the  hint  was  needed.  — 15.  *Afid  they  turned  aside 
thither,  and  caine  to  the  house  of  the  young  Levite  {to  Micah's 
house)  and  gave  him  a  friendly  greeting']  the  words  in  parenthesis 
are  a  harmonistic  note.  The  verse  comes  from  the  second  narra- 
tive (the  young  Levite).  —  16.  A?id  the  six  hundred  men  with  all 
their  armour  on  were  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the  gate,  who 
were  of  the  Danites']  the  main  body  halted  without  the  village. 
The  last  words  are  superfluous,  and  may  be  a  gloss  meant  to  pre- 
clude the  misunderstanding  that  they  were  the  defenders  of  the 
place.  That  the  six  hundred  men  were  standing  at  the  gate,  is 
repeated  in  v.^'^^ ;  we  are  also  twice  told  how  the  spies  went  to 
Micah's  house  and  took  the  idols  ( v. ^'''- '•'").  Some  critics  there- 
fore regard  the  whole  of  v.^*^  as  a  doublet  to  v.^'''^  introduced  by 


*  For  other  attempts  to  separate  the  threads  of  the  narrative,  see  Be.,  Hu. ;  cf. 
above,  p.  367  f. 

t  Wellhausen  (in  Bleek,  Einl^.  p.  198  f.)  formerly  surmised  that  while  the  spies 
engaged  the  young  Levite  in  conversation,  the  rest  of  the  party  stole  the  gods;  but 
this  opinion,  still  maintained  by  Bu.  {Richi.  u.  Sam.,  p.  143),  We.  has  given  up 
(Cow/.,  p.  356  f.}. 


396  JUDGES 

an  unskillful  editor  or  scribe.*  If  this  opinion  is  sound,  we  should 
include  v.^'*  in  the  same  judgment.  — 17.  And  the  five  vie7i  who 
iveiit  to  spy  out  the  land  went  np\  the  superfluous  explicitness  with 
which  these  men  are  described,  as  in  the  corresponding  case  of 
the  "  six  hundred  men  girt  with  their  weapons  of  war,"  is  more  in 
the  manner  of  an  editor  or  scribe  than  of  the  author  of  the  narra- 
tive, who,  when  he  is  allowed,  tells  a  straight  story  in  a  clear  and 
vigorous  style ;  see  above  on  v.^^.  —  Came  thither,  took  the  p^^2 
and  the  ephod  and  the  teraphim  and  the  inassekah~\  the  asyndeton, 
which  in  English  would  make  no  great  difficulty,  is  very  unusual 
in  old  Hebrew,  and  in  such  a  connexion  almost  unparalleled. 
This  grammatical  difliculty  is  an  additional  reason  for  thinking 
that  v.^'"''  is  not  from  the  hand  of  the  author  of  the  narrative ;  see 
above.  —  And  the  priest  was  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the  gate'\ 
of  the  village  (cf.  v.^^).  From  v.^^-^^,  however,  it  is  clear  that  the 
meeting  with  the  priest  took  place  at  the  sanctuary,  not  at  the 
gate.  If  the  clause  belonged  to  the  original  story,  we  should  have 
to  suppose  that  the  author  wrote,  at  the  door  of  the  house,  or 
simply,  at  the  door,  and  that  the  mistake  arose  from  confusion 
with  the  armed  men"  at  the  entrance  of  the  village.  But  it  is 
equally  possible  that  the  whole  clause  is  a  gloss.  —  And  the  six 
hundred  men  girt  with  weapons  of  war'\  the  predicate  has  to  be 
supplied  from  the  preceding,  were  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the 
gate;  but  this  can  hardly  be  the  author's  construction.  It  is 
possible,  though  hardly  probable,  that  the  words  were  originally 
the  subject  of  the  verbs  in  v.'^.f  — 18.  And  these  went  to  Micah^s 
house,  and  took  the  ephod  and  the  teraphwi]  these  seems  to  refer 
to  the  five  men  who  had  visited  the  place  before,  in  distinction 
from  the  six  hundred  armed  men  who  halted  at  the  entrance  of 
the  village.  J^  has,  the  graven  ifnage  of  the  ephod :  the  graven 
image  {pesel)  is  probably  a  gloss ;  the  words,  and  the  molten 
image  {massekah),  at  the  end  are  also  added  to  complete  the 
inventory.  —  The  priest  said  to  them.  What  are  you  doing  /]  the 
priest  was  at  Micah's  house,  in  or  near  which  was  his  shrine  (17^), 
not  at  the  gate  of  the  village  (v.^^).  — 19.    From  this  point  on 


*  We.  (Bleek-i,  p.  199;  cf.  Comp.,  p,  356)  ;  Bu. 
t  Be.  thinks  them  a  gloss  from  v.H- 16. 


XVTTI.   17-21 


397 


the  narrative  mns  smoothly  and  without  evidence  of  duphcation. 
Verse  ^■'"■-  continue  v.'"'  and  belong  to  the  first  narrative.  —  Keep 
quiet!  Clap  thy  hand  on  thy  mouth  and  oro  luith  //.»•]  the  gesture 
of  one  who  forces  himself  to  keep  silence,  or  suppresses  an  excla- 
mation of  surprise,  &c.,  Job  29'-^  40''.  —  Father  and  pnest'\   17'". 

—  Is  it  to  your  advantage  to  he  priest  to  a  single  household,  or  to 
be  priest  to  a  tribe  and  a  clan  in  Israel']  the  order  of  the  last 
words,  tribe  and  clan,  is  singular.  —  20.  The  priest  was  elated 
(16-^  jgO.9^  l3y  ^}^g  brilliant  prospect,  and  taking  the  ephod  and 
teraplfun  put  himself  in  the  midst  of  the  Danites.  Jfcf  adds,  and 
the  graven  image  ;  #,  the  g?'aven  image  and  the  molten  image  ;  see 
above  on  v."-^'l  —  21.  The  Danites  turned  and  went  off,  putting 
their  children,  cattle,  and  other  wealth  in  front,  while  the  armed 
men  marched  behind  to  protect  the  column  from  pursuit. 

11.  ncnSo  -h-:^  mm]  cf.  v.^"- ''';  the  complement  of  the  ptcp.  is  the  second 
accus,  after  a  verbum  induendi,  which  is  retained  in  the  passive;  Ges.--'  §  1 21, 
2  n.  — 12.  iNnp  p  ^'f\  men  gave  it  the  name  which  it  still  bears.  — 14.  '^j->'^ 
CiS  \-\^7\  hn]  Laishy  which  is  asterisked  in  (^S  g^  and  wanting  in  0i'VMo^  jg 
obviously  a  gloss.  Bu.,  however,  retains  Laish,  and  cancels  ]nNn  rs  '^n^. — 
n'^xn  Dv-i^a]  cf.  V.22;  Micah's  home  was  a  cluster  of  houses,  a  small  hamlet. 
— 15.  n^^::  no  n^n  -lyjn  ro  ^n]  the  last  words,  identifying  the  house  of  the 
Levite  with  that  of  Micah,  are  apparently  a  gloss  derived  from  17'-'*,  in  the 
other  version  of  the  story. — 'Ji  ::'\s  mso  ti'^'i]  we  should  expect  "•■'Nn;   cf.  v.^''. 

—  -\;"j'n  nro]  v.^^  g^^  2  S.  lo^  ii^s  &c.;  nyc  is  never  used  of  the  entrance  of  a 
dwelling-house.  — 17.  Sddh  nx  '\r\'r'^  nDir  1x2]  the  asyndeton  is  without  paral- 
lel in  simple  narrative;  the  examples  from  impassioned  speech  which  arc 
adduced  by  Stud.,  Be.,  al.  are  not  in  point.  We.  formerly  proposed  to  make 
the  verbs  imperative,  and  connect  them  with  the  end  of  v.i* :  Now  know  what 
you  must  do;  Go  thither,  take  the  idol,  &c.*  This  reconstruction  is  adopted 
by  Bu.  (^Richi.  ti:  Sa7?i.,  p.  141);  more  likely  the  clauses  were  inserted  by  a 
late  hand  from  v.^^.  —  In  v.^^-  ^^  the  Gre^k  versions  represent  substantially  the 
text  of  1^1;  in  (§^  y.^^''- ^^  are  omitted  by  homoeoteleuton  (xw»'ci't"6i^x"''*''- 
t6v),  and  the  omission  in  <B^  (against  N)  is  probably  due  to  the  same  cause 
(eiarjXdov  —  ei(X7J\dov) ;  the  words  kul  6  ieped^  ecxTios  are  then  a  subsequent 
correction.  — 18.  mssn  '?Dd]  ephod-image,  is  explained  by  Ki.  as  an  idol 
clothed  with  an  ephod.  It  is  either  a  gloss  or  a  transcriptional  error;  cf.  6. 
— 19,  'Ji  pD  inrn  aon]  with  the  construction  cf.  Gen.  2^^.  —  'Ji  yy^'^y  vs]  the 
second  member  of  the  disjunctive  question  is  regularly  introduced  by  ax,  e^. 
92,  see  note  there;    1N  is  unusual,  cf.  Eccl.  2i9,  Ges.-^  §  150,   2,  n.  2  b.— 


*  Bleek4,  p.  198  f.;  retracted,  Co/>ip..  p.  232.  356  f.  — Be.  (p.  249)  is  mistaken  in 
saying  that  some  codd.  of  ©  take  the  verbs  as  imperatives. 


39^  JUDGES 

21.  m-i2?n]  wealth,  cf.  ni3D  Gen.  31^  Is.  lo^  &c.;  not  specifically  valuables 
(IL).  Others,  connecting  the  word  with  the  primary  sense  of  "\:33,  interpret, 
*  the  heavy  baggage,'  ivipedimenta  ;  Ra.,  Stud.,  al.,  cf.  (§^. 

22-26.  The  pursuit.  —  Micah  and  his  neighbours  pursue  and 
overtake  the  Danites,  but  are  rudely  repulsed  and  return  empty- 
handed.  —  Compare  in  general  Laban's  pursuit  of  Jacob,  Gen. 
3 1"*''"- :  from  the  similarity  of  the  two  narratives,  Budde  surmises 
that  they  are  derived  from  the  same  source  (E).  —  22.  When 
they  had  already  gone  some  distance,  Micah,  who  had  hastily 
summoned  his  neighbours,  overtook  them.  —  23.  They  called  to 
the  Danites  to  halt.  —  They  turned  their  heads\  lit.  their  faces  ; 
cf.  I  K.  8^^  2  Chr.  2(f.  Without  arresting  their  march,  they  shout 
back,  What  has  brought  you  out  ?  —  24.  You  take  my  gods  that  I 
made,  and  the  piiest,  and  go  off,  and  what  have  I  left?  What  a 
question  to  ask  me.  What  is  the  matter  with  thee  I'\  Micah's  feel- 
ings, his  despair  at  his  loss,  and  his  amazement  at  the  impudence 
of  the  robbers,  are  admirably  brought  out.  My  gods,  or  iny  god ; 
cf.  Gen.  3i30-32^  —  25.  Observe  the  grim  humour  of  the  reply. — 
Don'' t  let  thy  voice  be  heard  in  our  company  ;  some  fierce  fellows 
might  fall  upon  thee,  and  so  thou  cast  away  thine  own  life  and 
that  of  thy  household^  fierce  fellows ;  lit.  men  of  acrid  temper; 
cf.  2  S.  1 7^,  where  David  and  his  old  comrades  are  said  to  be  as 
savage  as  a  she-bear  robbed  of  her  whelps.  It  is  suicidal  folly  to 
provoke  such  men.  —  26.  Paying  no  more  attention  to  the  few 
peasants  whom  Micah  had  collected,  the  Danites  continue  their 
march.  He  also  recognizes  the  disparity  of  force,  and  sadly  turns 
back. 

27-31.  The  conquest  of  Laish.  —  The  Danites  find  the  place 
undefended,  as  their  spies  had  reported ;  they  capture  and  burn 
it,  and  build  a  city  of  their  own  on  the  site,  which  they  name 
Dan.  They  put  the  idol  which  they  took  from  Micah  in  the  holy 
place  and  install  the  priest.  —  Some  slight  redundancies  in  v.^'^ 
may  be  attributed  to  the  hand  of  the  editor;  v.^°-^^  probably  come 
from  the  two  chief  sources  of  the  story.  —  27.  They  took  what 
Micah  had  made^  his  whole  apparatus ;  perhaps  the  name  of  the 
object  {ephod  and  teraphtm)  has  been  omitted  in  order  to  make 
the  statement  more  general.  —  They  came  to  Laish,  6^^.]  see  v.'. 


XVIIT.  22-29  399 

—  Put  the  bjJiab Hants  to  the  sivord  and  hu rued  the  city]  cf.  1"  and 
I-'.  —  28.  Cf.  v/,  and  v.'-^  (S.  —  //  is  in  the  valley  which  beloni^s  to 
Bcth-rehob]  this  note  on  the  situation  of  Laish-Dan  may  be  by  a 
later  hand.  Beth-rehob  is  otherwise  unknown.  It  cannot  be  the 
place  named  in  i^'  among  the  cities  which  Ashcr  was  unable  to 
conquer  (see  also  Jos.  iq^^-^).*  More  probably  it  is  the  Rehob  of 
Nu.  13-^  (P),  the  northern  Hmit  of  the  exploration  of  Moses'  spies. 
In  the  verse  just  cited  the  name  of  Rehob  stands  by  the  side 
of  the  Gateway  of  Hamath,t  but  there  is  no  grammatical  con- 
nexion between  the  two,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  the  latter  is 
a  gloss  to  Rehob.  Beth-rehob  is  mentioned  also  in  i  S.  14^'  (S, 
in  the  list  of  Saul's  conquests,  in  connexion  with  Zobah.  J  It  was 
in  the  loth  century  B.C.  an  Aramaean  state  (2  S.  lo*^-  **) .  §  Robinson 
would  put  Beth-rehob  at  Gebel  Hunin,  where  there  are  ruins  of  a 
fortress,  in  a  commanding  position.  ||  Others  have  thought  of 
Qal'at  Busra,  about  an  hour  north  of  Dan.  If  we  were  disposed 
to  add  one  more  to  these  guesses,  we  might  with  greater  proba- 
bility conjecture  that  Beth-rehob  was  the  ancient  name  of  Paneas. 

—  29.  They  called  the  city  Dan,  after  the  name  of  their  ancestor 
Dan,  who  was  born  to  Is?'ael~\  Gen.  30^*"- ;  the  last  words,  unne- 
cessarily emphasizing  the  genealogical  relation,  may  be  a  gloss.  — 
Whereas  Laish  was  the  name  of  the  city  originall\\  cf.  i'""-23^ 
and  for  the  expression.  Gen.  28^^  (R)  ;  the  notice  is  superfluous 
here,  after  v.^^-,  and  may  be  an  editorial  note.  This  is  the  only 
case  in  the  O.T.  in  which  a  city  bears  the  name  of  a  tribe ;  prob- 
ably the  population  of  the  city  substantially  made  up  the  tribe.  — 
30,  31. IF  The  two  verses  are  plainly  parallel ;  each  tells  how  the 
Danites  set  up  Micah's  idol  in  their  new  sanctuary,  and  how  long 
the  cultus  thus  established  lasted.  Verse  ^  probably  belongs  to 
the  first  version  of  the  story  in  ch.  1 7,  v.'^'  to  the  second.  The 
author  of  the  former  must  have  given  at  the  outset  some  account 
of  the  priest  from  Bethlehem  who  is  now  abruptly  introduced  in 
1 7**  as  the  man,  and  it  is  not  a  violent  supposition  that  Jonathan's 
name  and  pedigree  originally  stood  there.  The  editor  who  united 
this  with  the  other  version,  in  which  the  young  Levite  lived  in 

*  Cler.  t  See  on  38.  +  See  ©L  82  ai. ;  Klostermann. 

§  See  above,  p.  390.  ||  Z/A"-.  iii.  p.  370-372. 

^  On  these  verses  see  C.  H.  Graf,  De  templo  Silonemi,  1855. 


400  JUDGES 

Micah's  neighbourhood,  omitted  the  antecedents  of  17^  and 
inserted  the  pedigree  in  i8^°,  where  probably  only  the  name 
Jonathan  originally  stood.  The  hand  of  an  editor  may  perhaps 
also  be  recognized  in  the  last  words  of  v.^",  ////  the  depopulation  of 
the  land;  the  author  of  the  narrative  probably  lived  before  734  or 
722  B.C.*  —  30.  The  Danites  set  up  for  themselves  the  idol~\  v."^*. 
If  our  hypothesis  about  the  source  of  the  verse  be  correct,  idol 
{pesel)  may  have  been  substituted  by  an  editor  for  an.  original 
ephod.  — Jonathan  the  sou  of  Ger shorn  the  son  of  Moses  and  his 
descendafits  were  priests  to  the  tribe  of  Dan\  Gershom,  the  eldest 
son  of  Moses,  Ex.  2"  iS".  In  P|  an  n  is  inserted  above  the  line, 
to  indicate  that  this  priest  of  an  idolatrous  cult  was  rather  a  son 
of  the  idolatrous  king  Manasseh  (2  K.  21)  f  than  of  Moses ;  see 
critical  note.  That  the  priests  of  Dan  claimed  a  Mosaic  lineage  is 
a  fact  of  very  great  interest.  \  It  was  not  the  only  Mosaic  priest- 
hood in  Israel,  as  is  clear  from  Dt.  33^,  and  from  the  patronymic 
Mushi  among  the  Levites  (Nu.  3^  i  Chr.  6^^  (6^)  &c.).  —  Down 
to  the  time  of  the  depopulation  of  the  land~\  probably  the  deporta- 
tion of  the  people  of  Northern  Gahlee  by  Tiglath-pileser  in  734 
(2  K.  15^)  is  meant.  §  If  the  clause  is  from  the  hand  of  an  editor, 
however,  it  is  possible  that  it  refers  to  a  still  later  time.  —  31.  As 
long  as  the  house  of  God  was  at  Shiloh']  on  Shiloh  see  below  on 
21^^.  The  house  of  God:  cf  i  S.  i''-^'*  3^^ ;  the  passages  in  Samuel 
make  it  quite  clear  that  a  temple,  not  a  tent,  is  meant.  ||  How 
long  this  temple  stood  is  not  known.^  Bertheau  thinks  that  there 
must  be  some  closer  connexion  between  the  cessation  of  this  cul- 
tus  at  Dan  and  that  at  Shiloh,  and  finds  it  in  the  reHgious  changes 
introduced  by  Jeroboam  I.  His  new  temple  at  Bethel,  with  its 
image  of  Yahweh  in  the  form  of  a  bull,  so  overshadowed  the  older 

*  On  other  hypotheses  see  critical  note. 

t  Not  of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  (Ew.). 

X  It  is  natural  to  connect  this  with  the  fact  that  Abel  and  Dan  were  proverbially 
places  in  which  the  old  customs  of  Israel  were  most  tenaciously  preserved  (2  S.  20I8 
©;  see  We.,  Dr.,  Klost.). 

\  Cler.,  Nold.,  Kohler,  Stud.,  Be.,  al.  mu.  Older  scholars  referred  the  words  to 
the  Philistine  wars  (cf.  i  S.  421^-),  so  that  the  terminus  would  coincide  with  that  in 
V.31 ;  so  the  Jewish  author  of  the  Quaestioiies  hebr.  in  libros  Paralipom.,  printed  in 
the  works  of  Jerome,  Ki.,  Grot.,  Hengstenb.,  Ke.,  al.  Houbigant  conjectures  pnNn, 
till  the  carrying  away  of  the  ark;  so  Bleek,  Cass.,  Riehm  {Einl.,  i.  p.  396)  ;  cf. 
Konig,  Einl.,  p.  257.        |)  See  Graf.,  De  templo  Silonensi.        H  See  above,  p.  369. 


xviii.  30-31  401 

sanctuary  at  Shiloh,  which  had  lost  its  holy  ark,  that  it  fell  into 
decay;  the  splendid  image  which  he  set  up  at  1  )au  (1  K.  i2-"-') 
took  the  place  of  the  old  idol  stolen  from  Micah.  W'c  cannot  see, 
however,  why,  if  the  author  meant,  to  the  time  of  Jcrolwain  ben 
Nebat,  he  should  have  expressed  himself  so  oblicjucly.  Jero- 
boam's image  of  the  bull  at  Dan  need  not  have  supplanted  the 
older  idol.* 

22.  ip'^nnn  ncn]  asyndetic  circumstantial  clause;  v.'^  15'^.  Notice  the  use 
of  the  causative  stem,  interpose  a  distance;  cf.  3'ipn,  get  near;  Wright, 
Arab.  Grant.,  i,  p.  36;  Ges.-**  p.  145.  —  ipoiMJ  20*^  i  S.  31^  2  S.  i"  Gen.  3128. 
—  25.  qc'Dj  ■inoDNi]  cf.  Ps.  26^  I  S.  15*'  and  the  use  of  Niph.  Jud.  2'"  &c.— 
29.  -i^i>  i-.:'n]  cf.  138  Job  5"  Ruth  4!'.  The  form  is  regarded  by  Bd.  (§  906  r), 
Earth,  Buhl,  al.,  as  passive  Kal.— 30,  31.  Kue.  {IICO-.  i.  p.  359  f.)  thinks 
that  the  two  verses  are  by  different  hands,  but  neither  of  them  the  original 
close  of  the  story,  of  which  at  most  only  fragmentary  remains  may  be  pre- 
served in  v.31.  We.  formerly  (following  Stud.)  regarded  v.-'''  as  genuine,  v.*' 
as  an  interpolation  (Bleek*,  p.  199)  ;t  this  opinion  he  subsequently  modi- 
fied :  the  two  verses  prob.  do  not  belong  together,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
think  that  v.^^  is  older  than  v.^o  (^Co7np.,  p.  357).  Bu.  ascribes  v.'*^  to  the  first 
narrative,  v.^o  to  the  second :  Jonathan  ben  Gershom  is  not  the  priest  whom 
the  Danites  carried  off,  for  in  that  case  his  name  would  have  been  given  at 
his  first  appearance  (17^);  he  must  therefore  belong  to  the  other  version  of 
the  story,  according  to  which  the  young  Levite  did  not  accompany  the  Dan- 
ites; Jonathan  is  the  priest  whom  they  got  in  his  place,  —  whence  and  how, 
we  are  not  told,  —  when  they  set  up  their  sanctuary.  But,  as  has  been  said 
above,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  author  of  the  second  account  would  have  said 
so  much  about  this  young  Levite  in  the  beginning  of  the  story,  if  he  played 
no  part  in  the  sequel  (see  p.  395);  nor  is  it  probable  that,  if  Jonathan  was 
not  Micah's  priest  at  all,  but  was  procured  by  the  Danites  from  elsewhere,  the 
author  would  have  failed  to  say  something  more  about  him.  —  30.  p  irjii^ 
n^'J::  p  cunj]  many  codd.  and  old  edd.  have  na'jn;  see  De  Rossi  ad  loc.  and 
Appendix,  vol.  iv.  p.  227.  X  ®^  has  Moses,  which  also  stands,  by  the  side 
of  Manasseh,  in  the  conflate  text  of  (5^  Thdt.,  S,  Bar  Ilebr.;  ©aulo  have 
Manasseh;  !L  Moysi ;  %  Manasseh,  but  Ephr.  Syr.  (i.  p.  327)  Moses.  The 
J  suspensum  is  explained  in  Jer.  Berachoth,  x.  2  (fol.  I2'i)  :  p  nrr  2S  ^i^r.  pi 
niJ'jD  p  i>sS  CN1  r\vr:;    more  fully  Bab.  Baba  bathra,  fol.  log**:   Gershom,  it 


♦According  to  Klostermann  {Samuelis  u.  Kdntge,  p.  348  f.),  the  opinion  that 
Jeroboam  put  one  of  his  new  idols  at  Dan  rests  only  on  a  corruption  of  the  text  in 
I  K.  \2-^-^^ ;  the  verses  originally  spoke  only  of  the  ephod  at  Dan.  Sec  also  1- arrar, 
"Was  there  a  Golden  Calf  at  Dan  ?  "  Expositor,  Oct.  1893,  p.  254-265. 

t  Similarly  Ew.  (  G  VI.  ii.  p.  492)  ;  Schrader,  al.     See  esp.  Stud.,  p.  384-387. 

+  On  letters  above  the  line  (Ps.  80^  Job  38>''-  >•').  see  Ochlu  we-Ochla,  No.  160; 
Buxtorf,  Tiberias,  c,  16;  Geiger,  Urschri/i,  p.  258  f.;  Harris,  JQR.  \.  p.  137. 


402  JUDGES 

is  admitted,  was  the  son  of  Moses,  but  because  he  (Jonathan)  acted  like 
Manasseh  the  text  connects  him  with  Manasseh;  a  similar  explanation  may 
be  given  of  17'',  which  connects  him  with  Judah,  Manasseh's  tribe.*  This 
interpretation  is  repeated  by  the  Jewish  commentators;  e.g.  Ra. :  for  the 
sake  of  Moses'  fair  fame  n  is  inserted  to  change  the  name;  and  it  is  written 
above  the  line  to  show  that  it  is  not  really  Manasseh  but  Moses;  see  also  Ki. 
on  17",  Rashbam  on  Baba  bathra,  I.e.,  Norzi  ad  loc,  al.  Glosses  to  the  same 
effect  are  found  in  a  number  of  codd.  of  |^;  Kennicott,  Dissert,  generalise 
ed.  Bruns,  p.  41,  497,  522.  Tanchum  offers  a  different  hypothesis:  the  name 
is  written  thus  to  hold  the  balance  between  discrepant  traditions.  It  was  left 
for  Protestant  theologians  (Schm.,  Cler.,  Hottinger,  al.)  to  be  more  scrupu- 
lous than  the  Jews,  and  defend  the  reading  Manasseh. f  In  the  genealogical 
system  Gershon  or  Gershom  :j:  is  the  first-born  son  of  Levi;  in  P  the  Gershon- 
ites  are  one  of  the  three  branches  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  though  altogether  over- 
shadowed by  the  Kohathites  to  whom  Aaron  belonged.  In  the  allotment  of 
Levitical  cities  (Jos.  2i2"-33  j  Chr.  G'^-'^'°)  the  Gershonites  have  all  the  northern 
cities  (in  East  Manasseh,  Issachar,  Asher,  Naphtali).  The  interpretation  of 
these  facts,  in  the  light  of  our  verse,  seems  to  be  that  the  priests  at  Dan  and 
other  northern  sanctuaries  like  Kedesh,  and  Golan  beyond  Jordan,  formed  a 
group  (Gershonites)  which  traced  its  lineage  to  Moses.  The  importance  of 
these  priesthoods  declined  as  the  northern  sanctuaries  were  more  and  more 
eclipsed  by  those  of  the  central,  and  eventually  the  southern  tribes  (Kohath, 
Jos.  2i20-26. 9ff.^,  Gershonite  Levites  were,  in  the  genealogical  apprehension, 
descendants  of  a  Gershon  ben  Levi,  who  takes  the  place  of  the  Gershom  ben 
Mosheh  of  our  text;  cf.  Eleazar  ben  Aharon  and  Eliezer  ben  Mosheh.  §  — 
31.  Sddh  riN  onV  iD-'tt'^]  Ci:'  of  setting  up  idols,  i  K.  1229  2  K.  21'^  Jer.  7^0  32^* 
(Stud.). 

XIX.-XXI.  The  tribe  of  Benjamin  is  nearly  exterminated 
by  the  other  Israelites.  || 

The  second  of  the  supplementary  narratives  gives  the  story  of 
the  war  with  Benjamin,  its  cause  and  consequences.  — The  concu- 
bine of  a  Levite  residing  in  the  Highlands  of  Ephraim  deserts  him 
and  returns  to  her  father's  home  in  Bethlehem  of  Judah  (i9^*^'). 
He  follows  her  to  bring  her  back.     After  tarrying  for  several  days, 

*  See  also  Shir  ha-Shirlm  rab.  on  25.  It  is  at  least  a  curious  coincidence  that 
in  Josephus  the  first  High  Priest  of  the  Samaritan  temple  on  Ml.  Gerizim  is  named 
Manasseh  {antt.  xi.  8,  2  ff.). 

t  See,  further,  Blau,  Masoret.  Untersuchtingen,  p.  48,0  and  JQR.  Jan.  1895,  p.  333. 

X  On  the  orthography  see  Frensdorff,  Massoret.  Worterbuch,  p.  277. 

^^  There  was  also  a  branch  of  the  Merarite  Levites  which  bore  the  name  '>B'1D, 
i.e.,  Mosaites.  |)  §ee  Auberlen,  Siud.  u.  Krit,  i860,  p.  549  ff. 


XTX.-XXI.  403 

they  set  out  on  their  return  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  are  c(jn- 
strained  to  halt  for  the  night  at  Gibeah,  where  they  find  entertain- 
ment in  the  house  of  an  old  man  who  is  not  a  native  oi  the  place 
(v;^--').  The  men  of  the  town  set  upon  them  as  the  Sodomites 
upon  Lot's  guests  ;  the  Levite  surrenders  his  .concubia£_to_t]iL'm, 
andjn  the  morning  finds  herdead  on  the..threshQld  (v.'"--'^).  He 
proceeds  to  his  home,  cuts  the  woman's  body  in  pieces,  and  sends 
messengers  through  the  land,  calling  on  Israel  to  avenge  the  out- 
rage (v.-^-^*^). — The  Israelites  assemble,  four  hundred  thousand 
strong,  hear  the  cause,  and  resolve  to  punish  the  men  of  (iibeah 
as  they  deserve  (20^-").  They  demand  of  the  Henjamites  the 
surrender  of  the  guilty  men ;  but  the  Benjamites  refuse  and  pre- 
pare for  war  (v.^--^').  After  consulting  the  oracle,  the  Israelites 
join  battle,  but  are  worsted  (v.^^--^).  The  second  day  they  have 
no  better  success  (v.--^)  ;  but  on  the  third  day,  by  a  stratagem, 
capture  Gibeah  and  cut  the  Benjamite  army  to  pieces ;  a  remnant 
of  six  hundred  men  escapes  to  the  wilderness  (v.-"^-*").  The  towns 
of  Benjamin  are  burned,  and  all  their  inhabitants,  men,  women, 
and  children,  put  to  the  sword  (v.'*^).  —  From  the  slaughter  the 
Israelites  return  to  Bethel,  in  great  distress  that  .ajribejsjackjog 
jn  Israel.  For  though  six  hundred  men  survive  the  battle,  all  the 
Israelites  have  sworn  not  to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  to 
men  of  Benjamin  (21^"^).  They  send  an  expedition  against 
Jabesh  in  Gilead,  which  alone  of  all  the  cities  of  Israel  failed 
to  send  its  contingent  to  the  great  levy,  with  orders  to  slay  all  its 
people,  only  saving  alive  the  virgin  girls.  In  this  way  they  procure 
wives  for  four  hundred  of  the  Benjamites  (v.^'**).  Two  hundred 
being  still  lacking,  they  counsel  the  Benjamites  to  conceal  them- 
selves in  the  vicinity  of  Shiloh  at  the  time  of  the  annual  feast  of 
Yahweh,  and  when  the  maidens  of  the  place  come  out  to  dance 
in  the  vineyards  to  carry  them  off  by  force  ;  promising  to  appease 
the  girls'  fathers  and  brothers.  This  plan  being  successfully  car- 
ried out,  the  Israelites  disperse  to  their  homes  (v.'^-^). 

The  narrative  of  the  war  with  Benjamin  is  altogether^iifferent 
from  any  of  the  other  stories  in  the  book.*     The  numbers  arp- 
Qxaggej;ated  to.  absurdity :    th^_kYy  o^  T^rael   i«;   four  hundred 


*  See  We.,  Comp.,  p.  233  ff. 


404  JUDGES 

thousand  men ;  the  Benjamites  muster  twenty-six  thousand.*  In 
the  first  two  days'  fighting  the  Israehte  loss  is  forty  thousand  men, 
while  the  Benjamites  do  not  lose  a  man ;  on  the  third  day  the 
tables  are  turned,  and  the  Benjamites  are  almost  annihilated,  with 
an  apparent  loss  of  only  thirty  men  on  the  other  side.  The  spon- 
taneous and  united  action  of  all  Israel  is  even  more  surprising 
than  the  prodigious  numbers.  It  is  perfectly  clear  from  the 
stories  of  the  judges  that  there  was  in  this  period  no  union  of  any. 
kind  among  the  Israelite  tribes.  Leaders  like  Ehud,  Gideon,  and 
Jephthah  have  at  their  back  only  their  immediate  clansmen,  or 
at  most  a  group  of  neighbouring  tribes ;  and  their  success  some- 
times excites  the  fierce  jealousy  of  others  (8^^-  12^^).  Even  in 
the  great  struggle  with  the  Canaanites  under  Sisera,  in  which  all 
that  Israel  had  gained  in  Central  Palestine  was  imperilled,  Debo- 
rah was  unable  to  unite  all  the  tribes  in 'the  common  cause;  not 
only  Judah  and  Simeon,  who  are  not  even  named,  but  Reuben, 
Gad,  Dan,  and  Asher  stood  aloof.  But  in  ch.  20  21  kll  the  twelve- 
tribes  are  gathered  together  as  one  man,  "  from  Dan  to  Beersheba, 
and  the  land  of  Gilead,"  and,  without  a  leader,  consult  and  act  as 
if  by  a  common  instinct.  This  singular  unity,  it  is  to  be  observed 
further,  is  not  political,  but  religious  \  it  is  not  as  a  nation  or  a 
people  that  Israel  acts,  but  as  a  general  assembly  of  the  church ; 
the  only  officers  who  are  named  are  the  "  elders  of  the  congrega- 
tioiiJ'  This  is  in  glaring  contrast  to  the  pictures  of  the  religion  of 
old  Israel  which  the  Book  of  Judges  gives  us ;  the  conception  of 
Israel  as  a  church  instead  of  a  people  or  a  nation  is  characteristic 
of  the  post-exilic  stratum  in  the  Hexateuch  and  of  the  Book  of 
Chronicles-t  ^'The  language  of  Jud.  20,  also,  puts  it  in  the  same 
company.  These  evidences  of  very  late  date  are,  in  the  main, 
confined  to  ch.  20  21^"^^;  ch.  19  and  the  end  of  ch.  21,  on  the 
contrary,  are  of  the  same  general  character  as  the  other  stories 
in  the  book;  ch.  19  has  an  obvious  affinity  with  ch.  17  18;  21^^- 
has  eminently  the  note  of  antiquity. 


*  In  the  Song  of  Deborah  the  fighting  strength  of  the  tribes  is  put  down  at  forty 
thousand.  The  only  numbers  in  the  Book  of  Judges  which  are  comparable  to 
those  in  ch.  20  are  those  given  for  the  losses  of  Midian  (S^''). 

t  Such  a  conception  could  only  arise  at  a  time  when  the  national  life  of  Israd 
was  a  thing  of  the  remote  past. 


XIX-XXI.  ^05 

The  most  probable  explanation  of  these  facts  is,  that  a  contem- 
Porarypf  the  Chronicler  took  the  old  story  in  hand,  and  put  in 
^Lace  of  the  original  account  of  the  way  in  which  the  other  Israel- 
ites punished  the  outrage  at  Gibeah  his  own  representation  of  the 
jvaysuch  a  thing  should  be  done  by  the  congregation.  In  this 
composition,  which  is  of  the  nature  of  Midrash,  the  author  prob- 
ably followed  the  order  of  the  older  narrative  and  in  considerable 
part  preserved  its  language.  Traces  of  the  later  hand  may  per- 
haps be  recognized  in  ch.  19  also.  It  is  possible  that  the  older 
text  was  itself  composite;  in  19^-'^  the  story  is  redundant  and 
confused,  and  more  than  one  attempt  has  been  made  to  solve  the 
difficulties  by  analysis,  but  without  conspicuous  success.*  The 
oldest  form  of  the  story  may  perhaps  be  derived  from  J. 

The  historical  character  of  ch.  20  2i'-^Svill  scarcely  be  seriously 
maintained ;  in  the  whole  description  of  the  war  there  is  hardly  a 
semblance  of  reality.  But  the  old  story  must  also  have  related 
how  the  report  of  the  crime  at  Gibeah  excited  the  horror  and 
indignation  of  the  Israelites,  and  how,  when  Benjamin  refused  to 
surrender  the  guilty  parties,  they  not  only  vowed  to  interdict  the 
connubium  with  that  tribe,  but  visited  them  with  savage  retribu- 
tion w^hich  even  threatened  the  existence  of  the  tribe  (see  esp. 
2  jisff.^^  That  this  narrative  has  an  historical  basis,  I  see  no  reason 
to  deny.  It  is,  of  course,  incredible  that  the  tribe  of  Benjamin 
was  almost  exterminated  only  a  generation  or  two  before  the  time 
of  Saul ;  but  the  events  related  in  these  chapters  probably  fall  in 
a  much  earlier  period,,  and  the  cjitastrophe,  serious  as  it  evidently 
was,  cannot  ^ave  had  anything  like  the  proportions  given  to  it 
by  the  later  writer  in  ch.  20.  Nor  does  it  appear  to  me  at  all 
probable  that  the  whole  story  is  a  fiction  inspired  by  Jewish 
hatred  of  Saul  and  all  the  places  which  were  associated  with  his 
memory.! 

In  Hos.  9^  the  prophet  declares  that  Israel  in  his  day  has 
sounded  the  depths  of  depravity,  "  as  it  did  in  the  ilays  of 
Gibeah"  ;  in  10^  we  read,  "  From  the  days  of  Gibeah  thou  hast 
sinned,  O  Israel."     The  older  commentators  generally  understood 


*  See  below,  p.  407. 

•J-Giidemann,  Graetz,  We.,  Kue. ;  sec  below,  p.  408. 


405  JUDGES 

these  verses  to  refer  to  Jud.  19-21.*  ^T,  however,  interprets  10^ 
of  the  choice  of  Saul  as  king,t  and  this  interpretation  has  recently 
been  revived  by  Wellhausen  and  others.  I  The  outrage  at  Gibeah, 
Jud.  19,  is  not  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of  Israel,  which  so  promptly 
and  severely  punished  the  perpetrators ;  and  the  crime,  atrocious 
as  it  was,  did  not  make  an  epoch  in  Israel's  career  of  wickedness. 
On  the  other  hand,  Hosea  regards  the  making  of  other  kings 
beside  Yahweh  as  apostasy,  just  as  truly  as  the  worship  of  other 
gods  beside  him.  §  The  context  of  Hos.  10^  is  very  difficult,  and 
v.''^,  which  we  should  expect  to  throw  hght  on  the  meaning  of  v.^% 
is  itself  hopelessly  obscure.  Wellhausen's  argument,  however,  does 
not  seem  to  me  convincing.  The  crime  of  the  Benjamites  of 
Gibeah,  in  the  ancient  way  of  thinking,  brought  guilt  upon  all 
Israel ;  it  defiled  Yahweh's  land  and  people.  That  Israel  expi- 
ated it  in  the  blood  of  the  offenders  did  not  undo  the  deed,  which 
might  well  serve  the  prophet  as  a  type  of  abominable  depravity, 
the  first  plunge  into  that  depth  to  which  all  Israel  had  now  sunk. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  Hosea  had  meant,  "  From  the  days  when 
Saul  of  Gibeah  was  made  king  at  Gilgal "  (i  S.  n^^),  he  would 
hardly  have  expressed  himself  in  the  enigmatical  phrase,  "  From 
the  days  of  Gibeah."  ||  It  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  Hosea 
had  read  Jud.  19-21  even  in  its  original  form;  though  if  the 
oldest  version  of  the  story  comes  from  J,  it  is  not  impossible  that 
he  may  have  done  so. 

On  the  critical  problems  in  ch.  19-21  see  Wellhausen,  Comp.,  p.  233-238; 
Prol^.,  p.  243-245;  Giidemann,  Alonatschrift  fur  Gesch.  u.  fVissensc/i.  d. 
yudetil/m7ns,  1869,  p.  357  ff. ;  «  Graetz,  Gesch.  d,  Jicdeti,  i.  p.  351-355;  Kue- 
nen,  HCO'^.  i.  p.  360  ff. ;  Bohme,  ZA  TW.  v.  p.  30-36;  Budde,  Kicht.  u.  Sam., 
p.  146  ff.;  Kittel,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  21  f.  —  Wellhausen  regards  the  story  as  of  the 
same  character  and  age  throughout :  the  greater  vividness  and  appearance  of 
reality  in  ch.  19,  which  Stud,  had  observed,  are  due  entirely  to  the  author's  art; 
the  chapters  are  full  of  reminiscences  of  passages  in  the  older  literature;  it  may 

*  So  Jerome,  Cyrill.  Alex.,  Ra.,  Ki.,  Abarb. ;  Drus.,  Grot.,  Eichh.,  Rosenm., 
Nowack,  Reuss,  al.  plur.  Some  of  the  older  interpreters  go  back  to  ch.  17  18,  to 
show  how  all  Israel  had  sinned  in  tolerating  idolatry,  and  explain  in  this  way  their 
defeat  in  the  first  two  days'  battle. 

t  Jerome  (on  Hos.  9^)  offers  this  as  an  alternative ;  see  also  Ra.  on  Hos.  9^. 

t  Wc,  Comp.,  p.  237;  Kleine  Propheteji,  in  loc. ;  Sta.,  GVI.  i.  p.  580;  Smend, 
Alttest.  Kcligionsgesch.,  p.  194 ;  cf.  also  Kue.,  HCG^.  i.  p.  361  f.  §  We.,  l.c. 

II  Against  We.,  see  also  Bu.,  Kicht.  u.  Sam.,  p.  147  ;  Kitt.,  GdH.  i.  2.  p.  21  n. 


XTX-XXI. 


407 


well  be  doubted  whether  the  narrative  has  any  basis  of  historic  fact;  that  the 
author  is  animated  by  hatred  of  the  Bcnjaniitc  kingdom  is  manifest.  Most 
other  scholars  recognize  that  an  older  story  underlies  the  work  of  the  post- 
exilic  author  or  is  combined  with  it.  liertheau  thinks  that  two  strands  arc  to 
be  found  in  ch.  19,  and  in  ch.  20  21  offers  the  following  analysis:  y\,  20'  *-'»»- >o. 

14.  (18).  19.  24-28.  29-36a.  47  2i5-14.     13^  2d^-  "-l^.  15-17.  20-2:!.  .Tfib-41.  «.  ^fi.  «  21M.  l.'-a        But 

the  formal  criteria  upon  which  Be.  mainly  relies,  such  as  the  use  of  '?K">r'  'ja 
in  A,  SvXitt'^  rw  in  B,  are  insufficient,  and  his  results  by  no  means  satisfactory. 
Budde  finds  in  iq^-is  clear  evidence  of  double  narration,  which  cannot  be 
explained  as  mere  redundancy  or  by  assuming  interpolations.  Comj)arc,  e.g. 
the  parallel  clauses  (different  number)  in  v.'"',  v.'"<*  with  v."",  v.'"'-  '^  with  v.»«, 
the  change  of  number  in  v.i»,  the  multiplication  of  terms  for  the  close  of  day 
inv.8-9".  To  separate  the  two  strands  seems  impossible;  Be.'s  attempt  is 
rejected.  From  v.ic  on  the  narrative  runs  smoothly  and  straightforward. 
Both  sources  are  old;  throughout  there  is  the  closest  affinity  not  only  to 
Gen.  19,  but  to  other  old  portions  of  the  Pentateuch  and  .Samuel;*  one  of 
them  is  probably  J.  In  ch.  20  the  surest  criterion  is  the  place  where  the 
Israelites  assemble:  in  the  older  source  Mizpah,  in  the  later  Bethel.  Bu. 
accordingly  analyzes  the  chapter  as  follows:  A  (Mizpah),  2o'"a''-^'>- '"•-»•  '<•  •'•>• 
29.  3Cb-38. 40-42a^  p^rt  of  the  vcry  confused  conclusion;  B  (Bethel),  2o'»/3- 2- »-'•■«• 
15. 17. 20-28. 30-33a.  34a.  35-3Ca^  part  of  the  closing  verscs.  Verse  ^^  is  introduced  in  A 
in  conformity  with  B;  v.''^b.34b  jn  like  manner  are  intruded  in  B  after  A;  v."^  '« 
are  glosses  derived  from  3!^  and  i^-^;   so  are  also  v.-''''*  and  w.-'^  to  cnn.     In 

ch.  21    Bu.  ascribes    to    A,   21I  (?)•  15.  17a.  is.  19*.  20b-22.  23.     to    B,   V.2-5.  9.  10.  .  .  .  12».  13. 

14a.  24.  v.i6.i7b.i9*.20a  are  editorial  interpolations  in  A;  v.«-«-ii»2*  in  B.f  In 
ch.  20  21  B  is  certainly  post-exilic  and  entirely  unhistorical;  the  union  of  A  and 
B  may  be  the  work  of  the  editor  who  added  ch.  17-21  to  the  Deuteronomic 
Book  of  Judges;  in  any  case  the  fusion  of  A  and  B  must  have  taken  place 
at  a  very  late  time.  Kuenen's  explanation  is,  that  a  Judaean  story,  which 
originated  in  the  days  of  the  kingdom,  was  thoroughly  worked  over  in,  or 
more  probably  after,  the  exile,  in  the  spirit  of  Judaism.  The  chapters  give 
plain  evidence,  not  of  the  fusion  of  two  sources,  but  of  successive  amplilication 
and  correction:'  20-''^-28a  are  inserted  to  remove  a  perplexity  which  v,*-^» 
might  create;  2o3Gb-4G  jg  an  expansion  (after  Jos.  8)  of  v.2>-36a;  2 !''-'••  an 
attempt  to  remove,  at  least  in  part,  the  offi^nce  of  v.^-23. — The  hypothesis 
proposed  in  the  text  (ai)ove,  p.  405),  that  an  author  of  the  age  and  school  of 
the  Chronicler  substituted  for  the  middle  of  the  original  story  a  Miilrash  of 
his  own,  appears  on  the  whole  the  most  acceptable.  It  is  simpler  than  to 
suppose,  with  Bu.,  that  this  Midrash  existed  separately  and  was  united  with 
the  older  story  by  a  still  later  redactor.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  Miilrash  of 
the  Book  of  Kings,  upon  which  the  Chronicler  drew  so  largely,  presents  an 
analogous  case.     I  should  freely  admit,  however,  that  the  analogy  of  the  Book 

*  See  Bu.,  p.  149  f.,  where  a  number  of  tlicse  parallels  are  collected, 
t  In  ch.  21  Bohme,  ZA  TIV.  v.  p.  30-36,  distinguishes  three  sources. 


408  JUDGES 

of  Chronicles  itself  may  be  urged  in  support  of  Budde's  theory.  But  Budde's 
analysis,  like  Be.'s,  seems  to  me  in  many  particulars  unsatisfactory;  and  the 
extreme  difficulty  of  the  analysis,  in  a  case  where  we  should  expect  it  to  be 
peculiarly  easy,  is  itself  a  reason  for  doubting  the  correctness  of  the  assumption 
that  two  sources  have  been  united  by  an  editor.  —  The  towns  which  are 
pilloried  in  this  story  are  Gibeah,  Saul's  home,  and  Jabesh  in  Gilead,  by  the 
relief  of  which  Saul  became  king,  and  whose  grateful  inhabitants  held  so 
loyally  to  him;  while  the  Levite,  who  is  so  outrageously  treated,  comes  from 
Bethlehem,  David's  birthplace.  The  coincidence  is  certainly  striking.  Giide- 
mann  inferred  that  the  motive  of  the  whole  story  was  Judaean  animosity 
against  Saul :  *  the  places  and  people  that  were  most  intimately  associated 
with  his  history  were  held  up  to  infamy;  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeah  were 
guilty  of  an  unspeakable  crime;  his  tribe  of  Benjamin  upheld  them;  the 
people  of  Jabesh  were  the  only  men  in  Israel  who  took  no  part  in  the  holy 
war.  Similarly  Graetz  (^Gesch.  d.  yuden,  i.  p.  351-354)  ;  see  also  We.  (^Cotnp., 
p.  237);  Kue.  (^HCO^.  i.  363  f.).  Graetz  concludes,  further,  that  the  story, 
with  which  ch.  17  18  are  closely  connected,  originated  in  the  time  of  Solo- 
mon; and,  unquestionably,  such  an  animus  would  be  more  easily  explained  in 
the  early  years  of  the  Judaean  kingdom  than  after  the  exile,  when  We.  sup- 
poses that  the  chapters  were  written.  The  analysis  leads  us  to  make  a  dis- 
tinction, however,  which  these  critics  do  not  observe.  The  crime  at  Gibeah 
is  narrated  in  the  old  story;  Jabesh  in  Gilead  appears  only  in  the  post-exilic 
supplement.  It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  the  history  of  Saul  may  have 
furnished  the  association  which  led  the  later  writer  to  fix  on  Jabesh  as  the 
place  which,  at  least  by  neutrality,  showed  its  sympathy  with  Benjamin;  but 
the  connexion  is  entirely  secondary,  and  the  coincidence  on  which  GUde- 
mann's  theory  rests  is  not  original. 

XIX.  1-9.  The  Levite  and  his  concubine.  —  She  leaves  him ; 
he  follows  her  to  her  father's  house  and  stays  there  some  days, 
repeatedly  postponing  his  departure.  —  1.  I71  those  days']  edito- 
rial ;  loosely  dating  the  following  story  in  the  period  of  the  Danite 
migration,  which  is  further  defined  as  before  the  establishment  of 
the  monarchy.  —  And  there  was  no  king  in  Israel]  that  is,  when 
there  was  no  king,  17^  18^  2i-^t  —  There  was  a  Levite  residing  in 
the  re77iote  parts  of  Mt.  Ephrai??i~\  cf  i  f.  Probably  the  northern 
part  of  the  Central  Highlands  is  meant;  it  is  noteworthy  that 
neither  here  nor  in  ch.  17  18  is  a  town  named. — Resided:  see 
on  17^.  —  A  concubine  from  Bethlehem  in  Judah]  it  has  been 
observed  above  that  all  the  Levites  mentioned  in  ch.  17  18,  19-21 
are  in  some  way  connected  with  Judah,  and  two  of  them  with 


In  the  article  cited  above,  p.  406.  f  Sec  above,  p.  369. 


^^^    1-3  409 

Bethlehem.*  —  2.  Jlis  concubine  committed  fornication  at^ainsi 
him~\  so  %\Si.  The  text  is  suspicious ;  tlie  older  Greek  version 
reads,  was  angry  with  him  ;  see  critical  note.  —  She  luent  from 
him  to  her  father's  house,  to  Bethlehem  of  Judo h,  and  icas  there 
some  time,  four  months^  the  last  words  arc  in  loose  ai)i)osition, 
and  may  perhaps  be  a  gloss  (cf.  20'").  — 3.  The  man  followed 
her  to  her  home.  —  To  speak  affectiotiatcly  to  her,  to  brin\^  her 
back']  cf.  Gen.  34''  and  especially  Hos.  2^^  On  the  text  see  critical 
note.  —  He  had  with  him  his  servant  and  a  pair  of  asses']  v.'"  '' ; 
to  carry  the  necessary  provisions  for  the  journey,  and  for  the 
woman  to  ride.  —  And  she  brought  him  into  her  father^ s  house^  if 
the  text  be  sound  we  must  imagine  that  he  first  apprised  the 
woman  of  his  coming,  and  that  she  met  him  and  took  him  home. 
But  the  oldest  Greek  version  has  simply,  he  went  to  her  father's 
home,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  here,  as  in  the  first  half-verse, 
J^  has  been  altered  in  consequence  of  the  feeling  that,  as  the 
man  was  the  injured  party,  it  should  be  the  woman  who  tried  to 
win  him  back.  —  Whoi  the  girVs  father  saw  him,  he  came  gladly 
to  meet  him]  3L  renders  well,  occurrit  ei  lactus.  The  sc])aration 
was  a  disgrace  which  the  restoration  of  the  man's  favour  removed. 

1.  vh>f^  rr^'x]  see  on  4*,  p.  114.  —  2.  v^'jS"'D  vSy  njim]  there  is  no  exact 
parallel  to  the  construction;  njr  is  elsewhere  construed  with  Syc,  nnss,  rnrr, 
once  with  nnn;  observe  also  hjtpi,  instead  of  the  normal  jt.'^i.  Of  the  vcrsiDns 
(gBN  jj^  represent  njTPi,  which  they  interpret,  with  Jewish  commentators,  she 
deserted  him ;  see  Ra.,  RLbG.,  Abarb.,  cf.  Ki.;  E  ^-|^y  nnD3i,  she  despised 
him,  spurned  him.\  (gAPVLMO  \zt  koX  wpyiadrj  avrip,  following  which  Dathe 
conj.  HT^ni  (cf.  Neh.  21°) ;  Bo.  proposed  ']';^r\);  Schleusner,  Stud.,  Ew.,  We.,  al. 
prefer  njTni,  which,  however,  is  regularly  transitive.  Another  hypothesis  is 
that  the  original  text,  represented  by  ©^^'^'•,  was  vSy  r\}Hr\X  which  was  cor- 
rupted to  n^'J^i  (she  committed  adultery),  and  that  the  reflection  that  she  was 
not  a  wedded  wife  led  to  the  substitution  of  nj?n  (she  committed  whoredom). 
The  Jewish  interpreters  found  the  text  very  difficult:  How  could  a  concubine, 
who  was  neither  wife  nor  slave,  commit  adultery  against  her  lover?     If  she 


*  Page  371.  It  may  be  added  that  the  only  other  places  in  the  pre-exilic  histori- 
cal books  in  which  Levites  are  mentioned  are  i  S.  6i5  2  S.  152^  i  K.  8<  ia«i ;  all  of 
which  seem  to  be  secondary  or  Dcuteronomic.  Sec  now  Nowack,  /Mr.  Archiolo- 
gie,  ii.  p.  91  n. 

t  Cf.  FI.  Jos.,  antt.  v.  2,  8  \  136  f.,  where  the  grounds  of  the  separation  are 
explained  at  length  in  this  sense. 

+  Usually  3  HJN.  An  example  of  the  confusion  of  the  two  verbs  is  found  in 
Chullin,  63a ;  see  Levy,  NHWb.  i.  p.  112'' ;  Jastrow,  Dictionary,  p.  86. 


410  JUDGES 

did  so,  how  could  the  Levite  (lawfully)  go  after  her  and  take  her  back? 
(RLbG.).  See  Cittin,  &,  and  Tosaphoth  in  loc  — 3.  naS  S;;  ^^nS]  Gen.  34^ 
5021  2  S.  198  Hos.  2I0  Is.  4o'-2  Ruth  2^^.  —  la^ir'n*?]  Qere,  with  all  the  versions, 
n3'':;'nS  undoubtedly  restoring  the  original  reading;  the  Kethib  probably 
intended  O'-'n'^,  that  she  might  zoin  him  back,  reflecting  that  he  was  the 
offended  party.  Maurer  and  Ke.  refer  the  suff.  of  the  Kethib  to  n^S,  to  restore 
it  (sc,  her  hearty.  —  Dncn  i^d:^]  2  S.  16I  cf.  2  K.  ^"^  Is.  2\*-'^.  —  no  inxoni 
n>:3s]  ^APVLMO  s  I  Kal  iiropeijer]  =  njm,  which  agrees  much  better  with  the 
following.  The  same  motive  which  occasioned  the  Kethib  U'^'i'nS  in  v.*  seems 
to  have  led  to  the  corresponding  change  of  subject  in  f^  here.  —  inxipS  nDt'M] 
cf.  145  1514. 

4.  Hi's  /af/ier-m-Zaw,  the  girPs  father,  detained  hint]  concu- 
binage with  a  free  woman  is  a  species  of  marriage,  and  brings  the 
man  into  the  same  kind  of  relation  to  the  woman's  family  as 
ordinary  marriage;  cf.  v.^  15^  8^^;  see  also  comm.  on  i^l  Per- 
haps the  synonymous  phrases,  his  father-in- law,  and  the  girl's 
father,  come  from  different  sources;  cf. also  v.°-^.  In  v.*'^  the 
Levite  is  several  times  on  the  point  of  setting  out,  but  is  over  and 
over  again  persuaded  to  postpone  his  departure.  The  lingering 
of  the  narrative,  the  multiplication  of  identical  or  equivalent 
phrases,  the  alternation  of  singular  and  plural  verbs,  and  espe- 
cially the  doublets  in  v.^,*  give  ground  for  the  surmise  that  two 
versions  of  the  story  have  been  united ;  but  the  attempts  to  ana- 
lyze the  verses  have  not  been  successful.  The  solution  which 
appears  to  me  most  plausible  is,  that  in  the  first  account  the 
Levite  remains  three  days  with  his  father-in-law ;  on  the  fourth 
day,  as  he  is  preparing  to  depart,  his  host  persuades  him  to  fortify 
himself  for  the  journey  by  a  meal ;  they  linger  over  the  table  till 
afternoon,  when,  declining  an  urgent  invitation  to  spend  another 
night,  the  Levite  with  his  companions  sets  out  on  his  return  (v.^"*^*- 
8a^.b.9*-j^  In  the  other  version  they  feast  together  on  the  day  of 
the  Levite's  arrival  (v.^"") ;  the  girl's  father  invites  his  guest  to  pass 
the  night  there ;  in  the  morning  he  urges  him  to  stay  another 
night ;  on  the  third  day  detains  him  for  a  feast,  as  in  the  other 
account,  and  reluctantly  allows  him  to  depart,  late  in  the  day 
(v6.7.8aa.9*)  I  —  ^     q^  ^^^  /7/^r//^  day  they  rose  in  the  morning 

*  In  v.9,  however,  textual  criticism  has  a  word  to  say. 

t  Re.  ascribes  to  the  first  source  v.'*--''.  6.  9  (as  far  as  NJ  M'h)  ;  to  the  other  v.7-8 
and  the  rest  of  v.'J.     This  analysis  is  criticized  by  Kue.,  Bu. 


XTX.  4-9 


411 


and  prepared  to  .c^]  Ji]  and  he  stood  up  to  f^o.  If  the  words 
belong  to  the  original  narrative,  the  verb  should  probably  be  put 
in  the  plural,  as  in  the  translation  above. —.S'A/v  thy  stomach'^  lit. 
heart,  v.«  Gen.  i8'.*  — ^  hit  of  brcad^  (ien.  iS'  i  K.  17"  ;  it  is 
becoming  in  the  host  to  depreciate  the  meal  which  he  offers  to 
his  guests. —  6.  So  the  two  men  sat,  and  ate  and  drank']  the 
woman,  of  course,  did  not  eat  with  them  ;  compare  again  Gen.  18. 
The  verse  is  perhaps  the  original  sequel  of  v.l  —  And  the  twirl's 
father  said  to  the  man,  Consent  now,  and  spend  the  night]  for  the 
verb  see  on  i"",^  cf.  1 7".  —  And  enjoy  thyself]  1 6^  ;  here,  as  often, 
of  the  hilarity  of  the  table.  —  7.  When  the  man  arose  to  go]  we 
are  probably  to  understand  that  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  v.* ; 
the  next  morning,  when  he  was  making  ready  to  go,  his  host 
insisted  on  his  staying  another  day.  —  His  fither-in-taio  urged 
him,  and  he  passed  the  night  there  again]  urged  him,  Cien.  19"'  ^^^\ 
—  8.  He  arose  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day]  the  lubion  of  the 
two  narratives  seems  to  have  added  one  to  the  number  of  days.  — 
And  tarry  till  the  day  decline]  an  invitation  to  tarry  till  afternoon 
before  beginning  a  long  journey  is  in  itself  strange,  and  appears 
still  more  strange  beside  v.*,  where  the  advanced  hour  of  the  day 
is  urged  as  a  reason  why  they  should  not  set  out  till  the  following 
morning.  Perhaps  the  author  wrote,  so  they  tarried  (a  change  of 
but  one  letter  in  Hebrew) .  On  the  variations  of  the  Greek  trans- 
lators see  note.  —  9.  The  repetitions  in  this  verse  are  rendered 
the  more  striking  by  the  abrupt  changes  of  number.  The  invita- 
tion to  stay  over  night  is  given  twice,  and  in  both  cases  the  late- 
ness of  the  hour  is  urged  as  a  reason  for  doing  so.  The  language 
in  both  instances  is  extraordinary,  and  there  are  other  reasons  for 
thinking  that  the  Hebrew  text  is  not  intact.  It  seems  necessary 
to  adopt  the  emendation  suggested  by  &''^^- :  See,  the  day  has 
declined  toward  evening;  spend  the  night  here  to-day  also,  and 
enjoy  thyself  which  gives  a  perfectly  good  sense  and  construction. 
See  critical  note.  —  And  you  shall  arise  early  in  the  morning  for 
your  journey,  and  thou  shall  go  to  thy  home]  lit.  thy  tent.  The 
last  clause  may  come  from  the  parallel  narrative  ;  in  view  of  the 
unusual  expression  it  is,  however,  more  probably  a  gloss. 

*  The  metaphor  is  frequent  in  Latin.    Comp.  also  the  gloss.  Is.  3U>,        ■)■  P.  47. 


412  JUDGES 

5.  -|3S  nj?D]  V.8  -[iaV  nj— lyo.  The  punctuation  is  anomalous;  in  v.^  _  must 
be  2,  and  in^>  (with  conjunct,  accent)  can  hardly  be  meant  otherwise,  though 
Ki.  and  Norzi  take  it  as  ^;  see  Ko.,  i.  p.  261  f.,  cf.  95  f.  The  verb,  however, 
has  elsewhere  a  in  impf.  and  imv.,  and  t;d  is  therefore  probably  to  be  treated 
as  a  case  of  false  analogy  to  forms  like  xm^r  from  verl:)S  imperf.  o.  —  ^rh  no] 
second  accusative,  support  some  one  with  something,  after  the  analogy  of 
'satisfy  one  with  something'  (y^i:')  &c.;  cf.  IDD  Gen.  2f'  Ps.  51!^  Ges.25 
§  117,  5(5)3.— 7.  n  nson]  Gen.  iq^-S  (literal  sense),  33I1  2  K.  q>'  51^;  see 
also  SS.  p.  600^.  —  iSm  3t:'M]  returned  and  spent  the  night,  that  is,  spent  the 
night  again;  I  S.  i^^  &c.  — 8.  avn  niio:  ny  inrnanm]  for  the  verb  see  326. 
'A  vo}epev0r}Ti,  S  ^LdrpL'^ov.  ^^^- 1^-  64.  85  mg  a-rpayeijdrjTL  [jzV]  '  loiter ' ;  hence, 
by  a  frequent  uncial  error,  (g^PVLO  aTparevdriTL;  for  which  aTpdrevaov  (B)  is 
a  grammatical  correction.  For  (rTpa7[7]eyecr0at  =  nrncnn  see  Hexapla  on 
Gen.  191*^  Hab.  2^.*  A  different  reading  is  represented  by  (gM  (^9. 75. 85)  n 
SteTrXdya  avrbv,  or  (52. 77,  cf.  16. 131)  SteTrXdri^ve  ayro;/;  the  verbs  TrXai'dw  and 
ir\aTiv<j)  appear  elsewhere  as  variant  renderings  of  nni3,  read  as  Piel  or  as 
Hiph.  The  translators  therefore  probably  read  here  innDM.f  This  has  a 
genuine  look.  The  imv.  of  p?  must,  for  the  reasons  set  forth  in  the  text,  be 
corrected  to  the  impf,  and  perhaps  the  original  text  may  be  restored  "inni3''i 
'X\  nDHDnii,  and  he  coaxed  him,  and  he  lingered  till  the  day  was  declining.  — 
Dm  niLJj  iy]  cf,  2  K.  20IO,  the  declining  of  the  shadow  on  a  dial;  see  also 
below  the  equivalent  expressions  in  v.^.  —  9.  an;?*?  orn  nan]  the  words  might 
be  literally  translated,  the  day  has  grown  feeble  to  setting;  but  there  is  no 
proper  parallel  to  the  use  of  either  verb.  %  The  poetical  expression  is  noted 
by  We.  as  an  evidence  of  late  date.  —  orn  nun  tmts']  these  words  are  still  more 
difficult;  even  if  we  let  the  inf.  after  njn  pass,§  it  is  the  catnping,  settling 
down,  of  the  day,  is  an  unexampled  metaphor,  especially  in  plain  narrative 
prose.  (§^  has:  i5oi>  k^k\lk€v  i]  -rj/xepa  els  eairipav  KaraXvaov  8t]  (28e  in 
(TTjixepov,  Kal  fieivaTe  cJSe,  koI  a-yadwO-qaeraL  i]  Kapoia  aov.  \\  Omitting  the 
doublet,  Kal  fieivare  J5e,t  this  represents:  Drn  m;;  njn  pV  jn^S  d  >n  n^j  n:n 
"I33S  2\g^]y,  cf.  also  ^. 

10-21.  The  journey  to  Gibeah.  —  Refusing  to  delay  longer, 
the  Levite  sets  out  on  his  journey.  He  passes  by  Jerusalem, 
where  he  is  unwiUing  to  lodge,  and  when  overtaken  by  nightfall,  he 
stops  at  Gibeah.     The  men  of  the  town  leave  him  sitting  in  the 

*  The  active  arpayyev^a  in  the  sense  of  the  middle  is  alleged  by  Schol.  Arist. 
Lys.  17;  I£tyfn.  magn.,  p.  330  (Liddell  and  Scott;  see  also  Schleusner,  s.v.). 

t  Scharfenberg's  conj.  that  they  read  in;*n,-i  or  my.-iyn  is  in  no  way  probable. 

X  For  the  latter,  we  may,  under  stress,  compare  Is.  24II. 

§  The  explanation  of  E\v.  §  299  a,  is  not  satisfiictory ;  the  exx.  in  Di".  p.  176  n. 
are  scarcely  parallel. 

II  Similarly,  with  variations  which  may  be  disregarded  here,  ©^^^  s. 

If  In  s  sud  ast.,  in  ^i  omitted. 


XIX.  IO-I3  4^3 

marketplace,  but  he  finds  entertainment  in  the  house  of  a  stranger. 

—  Through  v."'-'^  the  repetitions  and  redundancies  continue;  cf. 
y  io:n.  lib.  12:13  _  ^Q.  He  decHncs  to  spend  another  night ;  and  sets 
out,  some  three  hours  before  sunset.  —  Arrived  at  a  point  opposite 
Jebiis,  that  is,  /erusa/e;/i]  from  Bethlehem  to  Jerusalem  is  a  walk 
of  about  an  hour  and  a  quarter ;  *  the  Eastern  traveller  would 
probably  be  rather  longer  on  the  way.  Following  the  main  road 
from  Bethlehem  to  Nabulus  (Shechem),  they  would  pass  to  the 
west  of  Jerusalem.  Jerusalem  is  called  here,  with  reference  to  its 
non-Israelite  population  {y}-)jjedus;  the  same  name  in  i  Chr.  1 1**"- 
is  an  intentional  archaism.  The  common  opinion,  that  Jebus  was 
the  native  name  of  the  city  which  in  later  times  was  called  Jerusa- 
lem,t  rests  on  these  passages  and  Jos.  15*^  i8^*'-^.  %  It  has  no  real 
ground  in  the  O.T. ;  against  the  usage  of  P  and  Clir.  we  may 
safely  put  Jud.  i'-'  Jos:  15'''^  2  S.  5^  The  question  has  l)een  set 
at  rest  by  the  Amarna  tablets,  §  in  which  the  name  Urusalim 
repeatedly  occurs,  while  there  is  no  trace  of  a  name  corresponding 
to  Jebus.  Probably  Jebus  is  merely  a  learned  derivative  from  the 
name  of  the  Jebusites,  in  whose  hands  Jerusalem  remained  down 
to  the  time  of  David.  ||  —  He  had  with  him  a  pair  of  saddled 
asses~\  N?.  —  Aiid  his  concubine  was  with  hini\  some  Oreek  manu- 
scripts, for  completeness,  add,  and  his  servant  (v.^).  — 11.  .As 
they  were  near  Jerusalem  the  day  was  already  far  spent,  and  the 
servant  proposed  to  his  master  that  they  should  seek  shelter  in 
the  Jebusite  town  for  the  night.  — 12.  His  master  will  not  con- 
sent to  spend  the  night  in  a  foreign  city,  whose  inhabitants  are 
not  Israehtes  ;  they  will  keep  on  to  Gibeah.  By  this  contrast  the 
author  makes  the  conduct  of  the  Gibeathites  appear  doubly  base. 
— 13.    And  he  said  to  his  servant']  apparently  parallel  to  v."*"-  ^'K 

—  In  Gibeah  or  in  Ramah']  the  order  in  which  the  places  are 
named  seems  to  indicate  that  Ramah  was  the  more  remote  from 
Jerusalem.      It  is  the  modern  er-Ram,  two  hours  north  of  that 


*  Bad3.,  p.  121. 

t  See,  e.g.,  Thdt.,  quaest.  2;  Hitz.,  <7/7.  i.  p.  102;  Grill,  ZATW.  iv.  p.  138;  cf. 
Di.,  NDJ.  p.  485  ;  al.  mu. 

+  Observe  the  use  oi  Jebusite  for  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem. 
§  About  1400  B.C.,  before  the  Israelite  invasion ;  see  ZA.  vi.  p. 
II  See  on  18. 


414  JUDGES 

city^*  — 14.  The  sun  went  down  on  theni]  the  day  was  well 
advanced  when  they  set  out  from  Bethlehem  (v.^)  ;  it  had  far 
declined  when  they  passed  Jerusalem ;  the  sun  set  as  they  were 
by  Gibeah  (v.") .  The  sudden  nightfall,  which  in  Palestine  follows 
sunset  almost  without  twilight,  compelled  them  to  seek  shelter 
at  once.  —  Gibeah  zvhich  belongs  to  Benjamin'\  20"* ;  elsewhere 
called  Gibeah  of  Benjamin  (i  S.  13"-^^  14^^),  or  of  the  Benjamites 
(2  S.  23^),  is  probably  the  same  which,  as  the  home  of  Saul 
(i  S.  io-«),  is  called  Gibeah  of  Saul  (i  S.  11^  Is.  10-^  &c.),  and  dis- 
tinct from  Geba  (Is.  I.e.,  i  S.  14^).  The  latter  is  undoubtedly  the 
modern  Geba',  opposite  Makhmas  (Michmash)  ;  Gibeah  cannot  be 
so  certainly  identified.  The  similarity  of  the  two  names  has  led  to 
much  confusion  in  our  texts,  which  greatly  complicates  the  ques- 
tion.! From  the  present  passage  it  appears  that  Gibeah  was  on 
or  near  the  road  from  Jerusalem  north  by  Ramah.  Robinson,  % 
following  a  suggestion  of  Gross,  §  locates  it  at  Tell  (or  Tuleil)  el- 
Ful,  about  half  way  between  Jerusalem  and  er-Ram,  and  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  east  of  the  main  road,  ||  and  this  site  has  been  accepted 
by  many  scholars.^  Tell  el-Ful  suits  the  requirements  of  our 
story  sufficiently  well,  though  if  we  were  guided  by  it  alone  we 
should  probably  prefer  a  site  nearer  to  Ramah,  such  as  Khirbet 
Ras  et-TawIl,  a  mile  further  north.**  — 15.  They  turned  off  there'\ 
1 8^-^;  the  village  lay  on  one  side  of  the  road.  —  He  came  and 
sat  down  in  the  public  square  of  the  town']  just  within  the  gate ; 
Gen.  19^  Dt.  13^^  Neh.  8^  2  Chr.  32^  —  No  one  took  tJmn  into 
his  house  to  spend  the  night]  v}^  \  contrast  Gen.  2^-^-^'^  19^"". — 
16.  While  they  were  waiting  in  the  public  place,  an  old  man 
came  in  from  his  work  in  the  field.  —  Noiv  the  man  was  from 
Mt.  Ephraim,  and  was  residing  in  Gibeah;  but  the  inhabitants 
of  the  place  were  Benjamites]  shelter  was  at  last  offered  them, 
not  by  a  native  of  Gibeah,  but  by  a  stranger  in  the  place  (cf. 

*  Rob.,  DR".  i.  p.  576.     It  was  identified  by  Eshtori  Parchi,  fol.  68b. 

t  See,  e.g.,  20IO.   Gibeah  is  only  the  feminine  form  of  Geba ;  in  meaning  ('  hill ') 
they  are  identical. 

+  Dl^.  i.  p.  577-579- 

^  Stud.  u.  Krit.,  1843,  p.  1082;  Valcntiner,  ZDMG.  xii.  p.  161  ff . ;  Bibl.  Sacra, 
1844,  p.  598.  II  Bad3.,  p.  214. 

H  Gu6rin  {Samarie,  \.  p.  188-197),  Tristram,  Miihlau,  Socin,  Di.,  al. 
**  See  Wilson,  Db"^.  s.v.  "  Gibeah." 


XIX.  14-21 


415 


Gen.  19  •).  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  this  trait,  perhaps 
suggested  by  Gen.  19,  was  introduced  by  a  later  hand  to  exagger- 
ate the  inhospitality  of  the  Gibeathites;  the  one  honest  man  in 
the  city  was  a  stranger.*  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  were 
Benjamites  is  much  more  like  an  editor's  note  than  part  of  tlic  old 
narrative;  the  author's  contemporaries  can  hardly  have  recjuired 
such  information.!  — 17,  18.  The  old  man  sees  the  traveller  in 
the  square  and  inquires  of  his  journey.  The  Levite  answers  that 
they  are  on  their  way  from  Bethlehem,  where  he  has  been  visiting, 
to  his  home  in  the  more  distant  part  of  the  Highlands  of  Kphraim. 
The  words  which  follow  in  the  Hebrew  text  are  full  of  difficulty  : 
and  to{?)  the  house  of  Yahwch  I  am  goitij^.  By  the  house  of 
Yahweh  we  must  understand  Shiloh,t  or  perhaps  rather  Bethel 
^2o'8-2Gf.^  Everywhere  else  in  the  story,  however,  and  even  in 
the  immediately  preceding  context,  we  are  given  to  understand 
that  the  Levite  is  returning  to  his  own  home,  which  is  not  at 
Shiloh  or  Bethel,  but  at  some  nameless  (that  is,  to  the  writer 
unknown)  place  in  the  interior  of  Mt.  Ephraim.  This  difficulty 
would  remain  in  full  force  even  if  we  could  interpret  with  Schmid, 
near  the  house  of  Yalnveh  I  live ;  §  but  the  language  does  not 
admit  this  rendering.  (!5,  without  variation,  gives,  and  I  am  i^oifit^ 
(returning)  to  my  home,  which  is  in  entire  harmony  with  the  con- 
text, and  can  hardly  have  arisen  by  correction  of  our  Hebrew 
text ;  the  latter  may  possibly  have  its  origin  in  the  erroneous 
resolution  of  an  abbreviation.  — 19.  They  ask  only  a  shelter ; 
they  are  abundantly  provided  for  all  their  needs  beside. —  M'c 
have  chopped  sti-aw  and  provender  for  our  asses,  and  bread  and 
wine  for  myself  and  thy  maidservant  and  the  boy  with  thy  ser- 
vants^ cf.  Gen.  24^- •'^-.  —  TJicre  is  no  hick  of  anything\  18'". — 
20.  The  old  man  hospitably  takes  upon  himself  all  their  enter- 
tainment.—  All  that  thou  needest  shall  be  my  iJiar\::^e ;  only  do  not 
spend  the  7iight  in  the  square']  cf.  Gen.  19-''".  —  21.    Cf.  Gen.  24"" 


*  Bu,     We.  adduces  these  clauses  as  evidence  of  the  late  origin  of  the  story. 

t  Cf.  the  topographical  glosses,  2ii'J. 

X  Ra.,  Ki.,  Abarb,,  Drus,,  Clcr.,  Rosenm.,  Be.,  al. 

^  So  also  Cocccius,  Stud.,  Cnss.,  Kc,  al. 

II  Compare  the  example  of  Arab  hospitality.  Doughty.  Arabia  Deserta.  li.  p.  136. 


41 6  JUDGES 

10.  nDJ  nv]  20*3  Ez.  47-''^;  cf.  njj  n>',  Neh.  3i6.26_  —  ix.  ixd  "in  ovni] 
^BN  xpo/Se/SiJ/cet ;  APVLMO  Ke/cXtKi^ia.  The  context  requires  a  perfect;  we 
must  emend  "n\  The  view  of  K6.,  i.  p.  399,  that  the  shortened  form  belonged 
to  the  living  language  is  most  improbable.  — 12.  njj  -\>fj  oppidum  gentis 
alienae  (2L  (g^al.  ^)^  not,  ci's  -koKiv  dWorpiav,  (g^N  _g,_Sf<-,.^,  ,j3q  j<s  ^jj,^ 
n:n]  the  fem.  plur.  pronoun  can  only  be  referred  to  the  notion  of  plurality 
inherent  in  the  indefinite  1^)7  (any  city  .  .  .  which  are  not  of  the  Israelites); 
so  Ki.;  see  Roorda,  §414,  cf.  Jer.  42^.  Others  translate  according  to  the 
context,  quae  non  est  de  filiis  Israel  ((g^^^'-  IL,S  S:'"«^"<=^-)»  or  take  r\i7y  as  an 
adverb,  kv  ■§  oi)K  ea-Tiv  aTrb  viCov  la-paTjX  cJSe  (@^N^^  Some  codd.  of  |^  (De 
Rossi)  have  r\Dr\,  which  is  doubtless  merely  a  scribal  correction,  but  a  sound 
one :  any  town  0/ strangers,  who  are  not  of  the  Bene  Israel.  So  ^ven.  1.2.  ant.  ai.^ 
—  n;;aj  i;;  ij-\::>m]  that  the  adversative  after  a  negative  sentence  (we  will  not  do 
so,  but  so)  should  be  expressed  by  simple  consec.  perf.,  instead  of  by  ^D  or  dn  "»d 
is  striking;  the  examples  of  adversative  1  after  a  negative  cited  by  Ew.  §  354  a, 
are  not  exactly  similar;  cf.,  however,  Gen.  17^.  The  words  read  very  much 
like  a  gloss  suggested  by  the  following  (v.^^-)-  — 13.  nnnpji  q*?]  imv.;  so, 
instead  of  the  normal  orthography  noS,  Nu.  231^  2  Chr.  25^^^;  see  Massora  on 
2  Chr. /.^.  —  mcpcn  nnx^]  some  good  codd.  have  nnN2  (De  Rossi);  on  the 
gender  of  DipD  see  the  lexicons.  — 14.  S;^]  beside;  with  names  of  places 
Dt.  1 1^*^  I  K.  i^  4^2.  —  Gibeah  zuhich  belongs  to  Benjamin.  The  most  impor- 
tant argument  for  Tell  el-Ful  is  derived  by  Robinson  from  Fl.  Jos.,  b.j.  v.  2.  i 
§  51,  where  he  locates  Va^ad  'LaovX  on  the  road  from  Gophna  (Gifna)  to 
Jerusalem,  30  stadia  from  the  latter,  and  apparently  near  the  junction  of  the 
road  from  Emmaus  (Nicopolis,  Amwas),  which  comes  into  the  north  road  just 
above  Tell  el-Fiil.  Cf.  also  Jerome,  ep.  108,  8  (0pp.  ed.  Vallarsi,  i.  690).  See 
further  j^Z'^.  s.v.  "  Gibeah-of-Benjamin."  — 15.  aniN  ^iDNTp  C'in  ^ini]  v.^^;  lit. 
gather  in.  The  word,  esp.  the  intensive  stem,  suggests  the  polite  urgency 
which  a  host  would  display,  as  in  Gen.  19^.  — 16.  ^T\'^^^;^o  p]  his  occtipation  ; 
cf.  I  S.  252.  —  mu*,"i  p]  the  open  country,  in  distinction  from  the  enclosed 
town.  — 17.  n^yn  r^sn]  2  S.  12*  Jer.  14^.  — 18.  iSn  ijx  nin>  no  pni]  this  is 
explained  by  Noldius  (p.  126),  Ew.  (p.  691),  Be.,  al.,  as  limit  of  motion;  but 
nx  before  this  accusative  is  anomalous,  and  is  not  explained  by  the  inversion 
(Be.),  else  we  should  have  it  more  frequently.  The  interpretation  of  Schmid 
makes  rx  prep.,  and  takes  "[Sn  in  the  sense  of  versari  (like  ^Snnn),  /  walk 
(live)  near  (at)  the  house  of  Yahweh ;  equivalent  to  saying,  I  am  a  Levite. 
Schm.  connects  the  words  closely  with  the  following.  But  why  should  any  one 
take  such  a  roundabout  and  obscure  way  of  saying,  I  a^n  a  levite,  or  I  minis- 
ter at  the  house  of  Yahzueh  ?  (§  koX  eis  rbv  oIkSp  fMOV  iyw  iropeiofjLai  (dirorp^x^) 
=  ^i>n  "«jx  ipo  Vxi.  In  |§  nin">  no  may  have  been  produced  by  a  scribe  who 
mistook  "-no  for  an  abbreviation  of  mn"»  n>3.  — 19.  |3n]  Arab,  tibn,  is  the 
broken  straw  from  the  threshing-floor  which  takes  the  place  of  hay;  Jer.  23-^ 
Gen.  2425-32  I  K.  58.  —  x^sD^]  always  with  1,  Gen.  2432  4227  4324.  *  j^  all  these 

*  The  verb  occurs  only  in  the  Talmud. 


XIX.  22  417 

places  grain  is  obviously  meant.  — i^j;  =--J  a  numl)cr  «.f  Ik-h.  codd.  (L)c 
Rossi)  have  i^a;,  which  some  of  them  point  as  sing.  As  sing,  it  is  rendered 
by  %%%;  6  takes  it  as  plur.  — 20.  p->]  the  first  pn  is  in  effect  equivalent  to 
entirely ;  the  second  to  only.~\'-j\  ^s]  in  pause  for  j^n  ^n  2  S.  \f''>;  (Jcs."-^ 
§  29,  4^,  n.  — 21.  ^a>i]  Qere  S^m  like  chm  from  am  cK:c.  (Ki.,  /J//.///,,/,  I28^ 
ed.  Lyck).  The  reading  ^;m  in  some  codd.  and  edd.  (among  them  jablonski; 
see  JIIMich.)  is  to  be  ascribed,  as  Norzi  shows,  to  the  accidental  dislocation 
of  a  sentence  in  Ki.'s  comm.  ad  loc,  by  which  the  note  on  i^n  "^n,  "  first  radical 
with  pathah,''  was  made  to  refer  to  ^3m,  cf.  IJomberg's  first  ed.  of  the  comm. 
(15 18).  The  verl)  is  regarded  by  Ki.  and  most  moderns  as  denominative  from 
^^^2  Is.  30"^*  Job  (y>  240*,  he  prepared  mixed  food  for  thi  asses;  cf.  Jer.  Kosh 
ha-shanah,  i.  2,  fol.  56«i.  The  verb  properly  means  'stir,  mix  by  stirring';  in 
P  esp.,  mix  the  r\r\iri  (n'-o,  msc,  pi^n)  with  oil.     See  further,  BSZ.,  s.v. 

22-28.  The  Levite's  concubine  is  ravished  and  maltreated 
so  that  she  dies.  —  Verses-'--''  have  a  striking  reseinbhmcc  to 
Gen.  19^"^;  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  similarity  of  the  situa- 
tion has  led  to  more  or  less  extensive  conformation  of  the  nar- 
rative in  Judges  to  the  story  of  Lot;  see  below.  Wellhausen 
argues  from  the  resemblance  that  the  story  is  a  late  imitation  of 
Gen.  19. — 22.  As  they  are  enjoying  themselves  at  supper,  the 
men  of  Gibeah  surround  the  house,  and  demand  that  the  Levite 
be  given  up  to  them  to  gratify  their  unnatural  lust.  —  Vile  scoun- 
drels'] IL  and  the  modern  versions,  so?is  of  Belial.  The  phrase  is 
an  opprobrious  term  for  base  and  wicked  men  (i  S.  2'-  2  S.  16^ 
I  K.  21^"-^^  &c.)  ;  the  etymology  and  proper  sense  of  the  word 
are  obscure;  see  crit.  note.  —  Pounding  on  the  door]  cf.  Gen.  19^, 
and  for  the  verb  Cant.  5-.  —  Bring  out  the  man  who  has  come 
to  thy  house,  that  7ve  may  knoio  him  carnally]  cf.  Cien.  19* 
Rom.  i-^"-'^.  In  20'"^  the  Levite  speaks  of  the  intention  of  the 
Gibeathites  to  kill  him.  Doorninck  is  of  the  opinion  that  our 
verse  has  been  conformed  to  Gen.  19"';  the  author  of  the  story 
wrote,  Bring  out  the  womafi  .  .  .  that  we  may  know  her*  Ikit 
the  Levite  might  very  well  represent  their  purpose  as  an  attempt 
upon  his  life ;  while  if  Doorninck's  restoration  be  accepted,  there 
is  nothing  in  ch.  19  to  intimate  that  the  man  was  in  any  way 
molested  or  threatened,  and  20''  is  left  without  any  foundation.  — 

*  P.  131 ;  so  also  Bu.     In  the  same  way  the  story  is  softened  by  Fl.  Jos.,  aittt.  v. 
2,  8  §  143  ff.     Verse -4  must  then  be  legardcd  as  an  interpolation  from  Gen.  19* 
(Be.  Bu.)  ;  see  below. 
2E 


41 8  JUDGES 

23,  24.  The  owner  of  the  house  remonstrates  with  them.  He  has 
received  the  strangers  under  his  roof  and  protection  ;  to  violate 
this  right  is  itself  an  infamous  crime.  — 23.  Nay  my  brethren,  do 
7wt  do  a  7orong  (Gen.  19'),  ^ince  this  man  has  come  into  my  house 
(Gen.  19'"')  ;  do  not  commit  this  wanton  deed']  the  last  word 
(v.-^  20*^ ;  EV.  /o//y)  is  frequently  used  of  offences  against  the  laws 
governing  the  relations  of  the  sexes  (Gen.  34"  2  S.  13^^  Dt.  22^^)  ; 
it  does  not  occur  in  the  story  of  Lot,  Gen.  19.  —  24.  He  offers  to 
expose  to  them  his  own  daughter  and  the  Levite's  concubine. 
Bertheau  thinks  that  the  whole  verse  has  been  interpolated  from 
Gen.  19^  with  which  it  is  almost  verbally  identical:  there  is  no 
allusion  to  this  offer  in  the  sequel ;  the  connexion  and  movement 
of  the  narrative  would  be  better  if  v.-^  immediately  followed  v.^'^ ; 
some  grammatical  irregularities  are  also  pointed  out.*  Such  an 
addition,  bringing  the  story  into  still  closer  agreement  with  Gen. 
19,  would  be  entirely  natural;  the  resemblance  between  the  two 
verses  is  too  mechanical  to  be  the  result  of  mere  reminiscence.  — 
25.  They  refuse  to  hsten  to  him;  cf.  Gen.  19^  —  So  the  man 
seized  his  concubine  and  put  her  forth  to  them  out  of  doors]  the 
Levite  gives  up  the  woman  to  save  himself.f  To  us  this  seems 
quite  as  bad  as  the  conduct  of  the  mob  in  the  street ;  but  nothing 
indicates  that  the  author  felt  that  it  merited  condemnation  or  con- 
tempt. And  not  only  the  proffer  of  Lot  (Gen.  19^),  but  the  favour- 
ite episode  of  the  patriarchal  story,  in  which  a  wife  is  surrendered 
by  her  husband  out  of  fear  of  harm  to  himself,  %  shows  that  the 
ancient  Hebrews  were  far  from  possessing  the  chivalrous  feeling 
wliich  we  find  among  the  old  Arabs.  §  —  They  let  her  go  at  the 
approach  of  daiuff]  the  first  signs  of  day  (Jos.  6^^  i  S.  9-*^)  ;  com- 
pare the  expressions  in  the  next  verse.  —  26.  As  the  morning 
appeared]  Ex.  14^  Ps.  46^.  —  She  came,  and  lay  prostrate  at  the 
door  of  the  man's  house  where  her  master  was,  till  daylight]  mas- 

*  So  also  Bu.  Doom.  (p.  131)  proposes  to  emend  by  omitting  all  mention  of 
the  concubine. 

t  V\.  Jos.,  writing  for  Roman  readers,  narrates  that  the  men  of  Gibeah  took  her 
by  force. 

X  Told  twice  of  Abraham  and  once  of  Isaac ;  Gen.  i2iOft-  20  26.  This  story  is 
the  more  offensive  to  us  on  account  of  its  religious  flavour. 

^  This  repulsive  feature  of  the  narrative  in  Jud.  is  no  reason,  therefore,  for 
ascribing  it  to  a  Uito  date  (We.,  Comp.,  p.  235,  cf.  p.  357). 


XIX.  23--28  419 

ter  (v.^)  ;  not  the  usual  expression  for  husband,  cf.,  iioweven. 
Gen.  18^-. — 27.  In  the  morning  the  Levite  opened  the  door 
and  went  out  to  pursue  his  journey.  —  There  was  the  7uo?nan,  his 
concubine,  lying  at  the  house  door,  with  her  hands  on  the  sil/~\ 
overtaken  by  death  in  the  last  effort  to  gain  a  place  of  safety.  — 
28.  The  verse  contrasts  rudely  with  the  pathos  of  v.^^  The 
man's  speech  makes  the  impression  of  indescribable  brutality,  but 
the  author  had  no  such  intention.  —  Get  up ;  let  us  go'\  Josephus 
puts  the  best  face  on  the  matter ;  the  Levite  supposed  that  she 
was  only  fast  asleep.  —  Finding  that  she  was  dead,  he  put  the 
body  upon  the  ass  and  went  to  his  home. 

22.  Sy^S^  •'jn  •'t;.js<]  explained  as  substitution  of  a  genitive  (annexation)  for 
apposition  (Philippi,  Status  Constrzuius,  p.  63;  Ges.-^*^  §  130,  5);  better,  sus- 
pended annexation  (Dr.,  TBS.  p.  166);  cf.  irs  ri3  nSin3,  3in  r^;;3  pb'n,  &c. 
In  the  present  instance  the  text  may  be  a  conflation  of  the  readings  SySa  >z'in 
and  h'^'h^  >i2;  or  we  may  restore  ^';'^^2  >i:i  D-'tyjN  20^'^  Dt.  131'*  i  K.  21^*^. 
'^'P'h^  1J3  is  variously  rendered  in  @,  oftenest,  as  here,  viol  irapavbixwv;  *  'A 
here  and  usually,  viol  air o(tt aulas,  0  here  BeXtaX.f  As  a  proper  name  in  the 
form  BeXta/3  the  word  occurs  in  Orac,  sibylL,  iii.  63,  73  (in  a  passage  of  Jewish 
origin),  ii.  167;  frequently  in  the  Testamenta  XII .  Patr. ;  in  the  Ascensio 
Jesaiae,  &c. ;  see  Baudissin,  PRE^.  s.v.  The  oldest  etymology  of  the  word  is 
found  in  Sanhedrin,  iii^,  nnnNiiSD  D^Da'  Siy  ipic^'  D^ja  '?>'>':'3  ^J3,  'men  who 
have  thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Heaven  from  their  necks'  (^i>'  +  "''^2).  J  So  also 
Jerome  in  a  gloss  in  his  translation  of  Jud.  19-"^:  filii  Belial,  id  est,  absque 
jugo.  Modern  lexicographers  derive  it  from  "-"T  (only  in  Hiph.  >'';'in,  cf. 
Is.  44^'^  Jer.  7^),  in  the  sense  of  *  good-for-nothing,  worthless'  (Cocceius,  Ges., 
MV.,  and  most);  or  from  nSy  (Ki,,  n-iSs^  S31  n*?;?-!  '■^i,  ne'er-do-well;  similarly, 
Hupfeld),  in  the  sense,  'low,  base '  (Fiirst,  cf.  JDMich.).  These  etymologies 
are  extremely  dubious;  the  word  is  without  analogy  in  the  language.  —  ODJ 
ni^n  nx]  Niph.,  Gen.  19*  Jos.  7^  c,  c.  '^>;  made  themselves  a  ring  around  the 
house,  —  Dipijtpc]  the  precise  force  of  the  reflexive  is  not  clear;  perhaps 
certatim  pulsantes  (Ges.  Thes.).  —  23.  nj  i>nn  Sn  •'HN  'tn]  Gen.  icf>  ^nx  nj  Vn 
r;-\-'.  —  24.  •in-^'jS^Di]  the  correct  form  icj-'io  v.2-25;  cf.  v-ijv:  Gen.  i^^  and 
often  (P);  for  other  instances  of  this  monstrous  form  see  Bo.  §  872  B.;  Sta. 
§345^.  —  aniN  (twice),  an^]  masc.  suff.  referring  to  the  two  women!  This 
accumulation  of  grammatical  blunders  in  a  single  sentence  strengthens  the 
suspicion  that  the  verse  is  a  late  addition.  —  2riN  ^y(\  force,  ravish,  Gen.  34^ 


*  In  I  S.  viol  Aot/otoi ;    other   translations  are   avun-draKTo?,  dwTrdcT-TaTO?  (2),  ai^piav, 
wibs  a.4>poavvy\';,  anaiSevTOi  C®)- 

t  For  the  Latin  renderings  see  Vercellone  on  Dt.  13I3  (i.  p.  520). 

X  So  Ra.  on  Dt.  13I4.    This  agrees  with  the  renderings  of  'A  and  2  (above,  n.*). 


420  JUDGES 

2  S.  131--'^  Dt.  2224-29.  — -srn  n'i'jjn  15-1]  cf.  r^n^n  no^^bn  -i^t  Jer.  44*-  — 
25'.  -Ji  ^^^'^N  Ni"'^^]  Norzi,  Baer;  many  e'dd.  have  nxm  (Ven.i-2,  Buxt.,  Plant., 
Jabl.,  Opit.,  Van-der  Hooght.,  Mich.),  agst.  the  Massora;  see  Norzi  ad 
A^^./Massora  on  Nu.  i;'-^^  and  on  Dt.  4^0 ;  Frensdorff,  Massoret.  Worterbuch, 
p.  89.  — nj  i^'-^.n^i]  maltreated  her,  made  cruel  sport,  cf.  i  S.  31^  Jer.  381^; 
the  primary  sense  seems  to  be  'play  a  trick  upon  one,'  Nu.  22^9  Ex.  lo^ 
I  S^  6';.  _  inrn  ■^\^';i'\  Qere  nS^r,  which  a  number  of  codd.  have  received 
into  the  text  (De  Rossi).  The  Massora  ( (9r/^/^  we-Ochla,  No.  149;  Massora 
finalis,  sub  1^^\  cf.  Norzi  ad  loc.)  enumerates  six  other  instances  in  which  3 
with  inf.  is  corrected  to  d;  the  printed  edd.  exhibit  numerous  variations.  The 
Qere  conforms  the  text  to  Jos.  6^'^  i  S.  cf^^;  in  Jon.  4^  the  Massora  preserves 
-,n-.n  r\-";-2.  —  In  this  use  D  signifies,  'simultaneously  with'  the  action  of  the 
inf  verb;  3,  *  in  (at)  the  time  of,  in  the  course  of,  on  the  occasion  of,'  that 
action.  Obviously  there  are  many  cases  in  which  either  might  be  used,  with  a 
scarcely  perceptible  difference  of  conception.  See  further,  Cappell,  Critica 
sacra  (ed.  Vogel),  i.  p.  238  f.;  Buxtorf,  Anticritica,  p.  483;  Elias  Levita, 
Massoreth  ha-Massoreth  (ed.  Ginsburg),  p.  188.  — 26.  -\\>'-2r\  nusS]  the  corre- 
sponding phrase,  3n;  .nij3^,  Gen.  246^  Dt.  2312;  cf.  also  Di>n  nj£)  Jer.  6*  Ps.  90^; 
as  the  morning  (evening)  turns  its  face  toward  us,  approaches;  S  'toward.'  — 
':'£3ri]  ^£;:,  fall  and  lie;  cf.  v.^'?  r^p:,  and  see  p.  loi.  —  v^^r\  n-'a  nns]  this  adv. 
accusative  (instead  of  the  usual  3)  is  almost  confined  to  the  nouns  nnfj  and 
r>3 ;  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  difficulty  of  articulating  the  labial  combina- 
tions nPD3,  rio^,  may  explain  the  preference  for  the  accus. ;  so  Ges.^s  §  118, 
2.b.  —  n^jnN]  pi.  of  superiority,  Ges.^s  p.  386.  —  28.  r\y;  pxi]  no  one  ansivered; 
much  more  forcible  than  (g's,  she  did  not  answer,  for  she  was  dead. 

29,  30.  The  Levite  publishes  through  all  Israel  the  infamous 
crime  of  the  Gibeathites. — 29.  When  he  reached  home,  he  took 
the  knife,  and  laid  hold  of  his  concubine,  and  cut  her  up,  limb  by 
limb,  into  twelve  pieces^  the  words  employed  are  the  proper  terms 
for  cutting  up  the  carcase  of  an  animal  (i  S.  11''  i  K.  i8^^-*^)  ;  in 
the  ritual,  for  the  cutting  up  of  the  victim  for  sacrifice  (Lev.  i^-^^ 
8'*  &c.).*  —  And  sent  her  through  all  the  territory  of  Israel~\  just 
so  Saul  cut  up  a  yoke  of  oxen  at  Gibeah,  and  sent  the  pieces  by 
messengers  throtigh  all  the  territory  of  Israel  {\  S.  ii'^),  to  raise 
the  Israelites  for  the  rehef  of  Jabesh  Gilead.  In  Saul's  case,  the 
significance  of  the  act  is  explained  :  so  it  shall  be  done  to  the  cattle 


♦  If  the  twelve  pieces  are  meant  to  correspond  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel 
(Ra.),  we  should  be  inclined  to  regard  the  words  as  a  later  addition  to  the  story; 
there  is  no  trace  in  the  Book  of  Judges  of  the  system  of  twelve  tribes.  Perhaps, 
however,  they  are  merely  the  twelve  joints  of  the  Umbs,  the  head  and  trunk  not 
being  included. 


XIX.  29-30  421 

of  every  man  who  does  not  join  Saul  for  the  war ;  here  the  object 
can  only  be  to  excite  the  horror  and  indignation  of  all  beholders. 
It  has  been  suspected  that  the  verse  before  us  is  modelled  after 
I  S.  11^*  —  30.  The  Hebrew  tenses  at  the  beginning  of  this 
verse  can  only  be  taken  as  frequentative  :  f  And  it  would  cone  to 
pass  that  every  one  that  saw  it  would  say,  Such  a  thifii^  has  not 
happened,  dr'c.  The  oldest  Greek  version,  however,  had  a  different 
introduction  to  the  verse  :  A?id  he  charged  the  ?nen  whom  he  sent 
out,  saying,  Thus  shall  ye  say  to  all  the  men  of  Israel,  Did  ever  a 
thing  like  this  happen,  from  the  day  when  the  Israelites  came  up 
fro7n  Egypt  to  this  day  ?  Take  counsel  about  it  and  speak  out. 
The  last  clause  is  much  more  natural  in  the  mouth  of  the  Levite 
or  his  messengers  than  of  those  to  whom  his  message  came,  X  and 
the  text  represented  by  #  is  on  every  ground  to  be  preferred ; 
see  critical  note. 

29.  nSjNTDn]  Gen.  22G- lo,  Prov.  301-*  parallel  to  3in.  —  n>?:i7'^  nnnj^i]  limb 
by  limb;  cf.  Gmllin,  28^  (top),  "ijn  n^N  nnr^jCT  (ncn:j);  the  verb  ^of'. — 
30.  -IDN1  nsn.-i  So  n^m]  Rosenm.,  Ke.,  al.  supply  icnS  :  the  Levite  imagines 
the  effect  on  the  beholders,  saying  to  himself,  Every  one  that  sees  it  will  say, 
Such  a  thing  tvas  never  seen.  But  this  is  quite  unwarranted,  and  does  not 
touch  the  difficulty  at  the  end  of  the  verse.  @apmo  j  (^gul)  obelo  ©'-i  g)  § 
have,  as  a  doublet :  koX  ipereiXaTo  toTs  dpdpdaiv  ols  i^aTriaretXev  X^ywp  TdSe 
epeire  irpbs  irdpTa  dpdpa  l<Tpar}\  *Et  yiyope  Kara  t6  prj/xa  tovto  K.r.e.  See 
further,  The  Book  of  Judges  in  Hebrew.  —  n^ii  is^  ni*?;?  doS  icr]  the  com- 
mentators supply  oS,  put  your  mind  tipon  it  (cf.  Is.  4120);  Sta.  proposes 
DDsS,  which  would  be  easier.  Probably,  however,  for  Vi';  (Is.  8^"^*),||  we 
should  with  (§  read  rw^  {QhQe  .  .  .  ^ovX-^p),  to  which  there  seems  to  be  no 
objection,  though  the  phrase  n;;;;  ctt'  does  not  elsewhere  occur;  cf.  20'^, 
nxy  .  .  .  ijn. 

XX.  In  the  history  of  the  war  with  Benjamin  two  elements  of 
very  diverse  character  are  discovered.  One  of  these  is  evidently 
the  continuation  of  the  story  in  ch.  19,  the  other  is  akin  to  P  and 
the  Chronicles.^     Bertheau  and  Budde  think  that  the  two  were 


*  We.  t  Dr8.  §  121,  Obs.  i. 

X  Cf.  20".     It  is  possible  that  the  clause  has  been  brought  up  here  from  20" ;  but 
the  phraseology  is  rather  unfavourable  to  this  conjecture. 

§  This  text  seems  to  be  supported  by  Fl.  Jos.  also  (antt.  v.  2,  8  §  149). 
II  With  these  exceptions,  only  STJer-  ^[esth.  Talm.  {Kiddushin,  80b). 
H  See  above,  p.  405. 


422  JUDGES 

united  by  a  redactor,  who  harmonized  them  as  well  as  he  could 
by  introducing  into  each  the  distinctive  features  of  the  other,  a 
procedure  which  greatly  increases  the  difficulty  of  analyzing  the 
chapter.*  Kuenen,  on  the  other  hand,  regards  the  later  element 
in  the  chapter  as  merely  an  expansion  and  exaggeration  of  the  old 
story  by  a  writer  of  the  age  and  spirit  of  the  Chronicler.  The 
difference  between  these  two  theories  is  not  as  great  as  appears  at 
first  sight ;  for  Budde  also  would  doubtless  acknowledge  that  the 
second  narrative  is  based  upon  the  first,  which  it  follows  closely ; 
the  question  resolves  itself  into  this :  did  the  later  version  ever 
exist  separately?  I  have  given  above  (p.  407  f.)  the  considera- 
tions which  inchne  me  to  think,  with  Kuenen,  that  it  did  not ;  but 
freely  admit  that  these  reasons  are  not  decisive. 

XX.  1-10.  The  Israelites  assemble,  hear  the  Levite's  story, 
and  resolve  to  punish  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrag^e.  —  The 

verses  are  in  the  main  from  the  older  narrative ;  v.^"^-  ^  are  clearly 
by  a  later  hand,  and  in  the  following  verses  some  expressions 
suggest  that  the  original  has  been  here  and  there  retouched ; 
whether  any  part  of  v.^-  ^°  is  derived  from  the  older  source  is  doubt- 
ful.—  1.  A?id  all  the  Israelites  went  out'\  for  war;  see  on  2}^ 
(p.  73).  The  last  words  of  the  verse,  to  Yahweh  to  Mizpah,  come 
from  the  same  source,  but  can  hardly  have  been  the  immediate 
continuation  of  the  first  clause ;  we  should  expect  some  such 
connexion  as,  and  came  together,  which  has  been  supplanted  by 
the  fuller  description  of  the  assembling  of  the  congregation  which 
the  later  writer  has  given  in  v.^^.  Mizpah  in  Benjamin  was  an 
ancient  holy  place  (i  S.  7^*^-  io^'^).t  With  the  neighbouring  Geba, 
it  was  fortified  by  Asa  to  defend  the  northern  frontier  of  his  king- 
dom (i  K.  15'"  cf.  Jer.  41'^).  After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
in  586  B.C.,  Mizpah  was  chosen  as  the  residence  of  the  native 
governor,  Oedaliah,  whom  Nebuchadnezzar  appointed  (Jer.  40*^^'- 
41  2  K.  25^'"  ) ;  and  had  this  attempt  at  reorganization  succeeded, 
would  no  doubt,  under  Jeremiah's  influence,  have  become  a  relig- 
ious centre  for  the  Jews  who  were  left  in  the  land.     When  the 

*  For  the  attempts  to  separate  the  two  sources,  see  above,  p.  407  f. 

t  In  the  younger  of  the  two  histories  of  Samuel  and  the  foundation  of  the  king- 
dom, (irovc's  hypothesis  {DB^.  s.v.),  that  the  rendezvous  of  the  Israelites  in 
Jud.  20  was  Mizpah  in  Gilead  (ii^i),  requires  no  refutation. 


XX.  1-2  423 

temple  was  desecrated  by  Antiochus  E[)iphancs  (i6S  n.c. ),  the 
God-fearing  Jews  assembled  at  Mizpah,  not  only  because  it  was 
over  against  Jerusalem,  but  because  it  was  an  ancient  sanctuary 
(i  Mace.  3-*-**^).*  Robinson  conjectured  that  Mizpah  stood  upon 
the  modern  Nebi  Samwil,  about  two  hours  NW.  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  highest  point  in  its  vicinity ;  f  and  this  site,  which  agrees  with 
all  the  data  in  our  possession,  has  been  accepted  by  the  majority 
of  recent  scholars.  J  Nebl  Samwil  is  only  about  two  miles  from 
Tell  el-Fiil  (Gibeah).  —  And  the  congregaiioii  assembled  as  one 
man']  every  word  betrays  the  post-exilic  author ;  the  congregation^ 
the  religious  assembly,  takes  the  place  of  the  people ;  §  the  verb 
has  the  same  associations ;  the  collocation  of  the  two  words 
belongs  specifically  to  the  phraseology  of  P  in  his  descriptions 
of  the  Mosaic  age  (Lev.  8*  Nu.  if  Jos.  i8^  22'-  &c.).  1|  The 
instinctive  unanimity  of  this  assembly  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
lack  of  unity  among  the  Israelite  tribes  which  appears  in  all  the  old 
stories  of  the  judges  ;  see  above,  p.  404.  —  From  Dan  to  Beer- 
sheba]  i  S.  3-°  2  S.  3^*^  1 7^^  24^-  ^^  i  K.  4^ ' ;  cf.  from  Beersheba  to 
Dan  (Chr.).  The  northern  and  southern  limits  of  the  kingdom 
of  David  and  Solomon.  — And  the  land  of  Gilead~\  all  Israel  east 
of  the  Jordan ;  see  on  5^^  ii^  Jabesh  in  Gilead  was  the  only  city 
in  all  Israel  whose  inhabitants  did  not  appear  in  the  great  congre- 
gation (21^).  —  2.  The  principal  men  of  all  the  people]  lit.  the 
corners ;  tropically,  the  chief  supports ;  or,  with  a  figure  drawn 
from  the  corner  towers  of  a  city  wall,  the  prominent  men  ;  1"  the 
same  metaphor,  i  S.  14^  Is.  19^^  Zech.  lo"*  (Zeph.  3^).  —  Took 
their  stand]  i  S.  10^^. — All  the  tribes  of  Israel,  in  the  assembly 
of  the  people  of  God]  the  first  words  are  in  all  probability  a  gloss 
to  the  preceding,  all  the  people ;  the  alternative  is  to  insert  the 
conjunction,  and  all  the  tribes*'^  —  The  assembly  of  the  people  of 
God  (cf.  Mi.  2^  Jer.  26^''  Ps.  loy'^-)  ;  the  people  assembled  in  its 
religious  capacity,  i  S.  \f''   i   K.  Si^-^s.es  ^^2.  ^^^  Q{\.txi  in  P. — 

*  Reminiscence  of  Jud.  and  Sam.  is  manifest  in  this  passage ;  see  esp.  vM-  ^. 

t  BR'^.  i.  p.  460.  On  Nebl  Samwil  see  Tobler,  Topographic  v.  Jerusalem,  ii. 
p.  874  ff. ;  Guerin,  Judce,  i.  p.  363-384  ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  iii.  p.  12  f. ;  Bad^,,  p.  119. 

+  Van  de  Velde,  Di,,  Be.,  Ke.,  Tristr.,  GASmith.  In  defence  of  the  theory  see 
esp.  Birch,  PEF.  Qu.  St.,  1881,  p.  91-93  ;  1882,  p.  260-262.  Others  have  proposed 
Tell  el-Ful  (above,  p.  414),  or  Scopus  (Stanley,  Grove,  al.). 

§  Cf.  the  assembly,  21^- «.         ||  See  further  in  crit.  note.        %  Ki,        **  (5-^ '''  IL. 


424  JUDGES 

Four  hundred  thouscmd  footmen  who  di'ew  sword^  the  words  are 
perhaps  a  gloss  from  v.^',  introduced  by  the  same  hand  which 
above  added  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  the  principal  men.  With 
the  numbers  compare  i  S.  ii^  2  S.  24^  and  the  standing  six  hun- 
dred thousand  of  P  in  the  history  of  the  Exodus.*  It  may  help 
us  to  comprehend  the  prodigious  exaggeration  of  these  figures  to 
remember  that  the  total  strength  of  the  German  army  which  in 
1870  besieged  Paris  —  a  city  having  a  population  of  a  million  and 
three-quarters  —  was  about  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  men. 
The  regular  troops  under  the  command  of  Titus  at  the  siege  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  year  70  a.d.  consisted  of  only  five  legions. — 
3.  The  Benjamites  heard  that  the  Israelites  had  gone  up  to  Miz- 
pah~\  Mizpah,  the  point  of  rendezvous,  is  as  nearly  as  possible  the 
centre  of  the  territory  of  Benjamin ;  the  distance  from  Gibeah  in 
a  direct  line  is  not  above  three  miles.  The  half-verse  anticipates ; 
the  negotiations  with  Benjamin  begin  in  v.^.  Budde  conjectures 
that  v.^  originally  stood  immediately  before  v.^^.  —  And  the  Israel- 
ites said,  Say,  hoiu  did  this  crime  happe7i\  from  the  message  (19^) 
they  know  only  that  a  horrible  deed  has  been  committed ;  they 
now  call  on  any  who  are  cognizant  of  the  facts  to  disclose  them. 
—  The  Levite  tells  his  story;  cf.  19"-^".  —  4.  The  Levite,  the 
husband  of  the  murdered  wo?nan,  responded']  the  Hebrew,  man, 
is  as  applicable  to  concubinage  as  to  matrimony;  cf.  19'' ^  the 
woman's  father,  his  father-in-law.  —  To  Gibeah  which  belongs  to 
Benjamin,  I  came,  6^<:.]  19^^  Gibeah  is  the  guilty  village;  its 
name  stands  with  emphasis  at  the  beginning  of  the  answer. — 
5.  The  freemen  of  Gibeah  attacked  me~\  lit.  arose  against  me.  — 
Me  they  meant  to  kill,  and  my  concubine  they  ravished  so  that  she 
died]  see  on  19^^;  their  purpose  might  very  well  be  described  as 
an  attempt  on  his  life,  especially  since  his  concubine  actually  died 
under  their  maltreatment ;  there  is  no  necessary  contradiction 
between  the  two  verses.t  — 6.  See  19-^.  —  All  the  country  of  the 
possession  of  Israel]  a  parallel  is  scarcely  to  be  found  in  old 
prose  (cf.  19-')  ;  I  the  possession  may  be  a  gloss  by  the  later 
hand.  —  Because  they  have  committed  abonmiation  and  wanton- 
ness in  Israel]  cf.  KJ^'"^.      Here  also  the  later  writer  seems  to 


•  Cf.  also  Jud.  810.  |  ggg  ^.x.  on  1922.  J  We. 


XX.  2-8 


42  5 


have  added  the  word  abomination,  which  is  fre(|iicnt  in  I^zekiel 
for  incest  and  similar  crimes;  cf.  also  Lev.  i8''  19"'  20'''. — 
7.  Here  you  all  are,  Israelites ;  give  your  word  and  counsel 
here'l  cf.  iq"'"  2  S.  16-^.  —  8.  The  people  resolve  to  punish  the 
perpetrators  of  the  outrage.  —  We  will  not  go,  each  to  his  tent ; 
and  we  will  not  return,  each  to  his  house~\  the  two  sentences  are 
exactly  equivalent ;  the  latter  is  probably,  an  otiose  amplification 
by  the  later  writer.  On  the  other  hand,  the  conclusion,  '  until  we 
have  punished  the  men  of  Gibeah,'  which  we  should  expect  here, 
is  lacking. 

1.  mpn  Snpm]  Lev.  8*  Nu.  \f  &c.;  esp.  Jos.  18I  22I2.  my  2iio-i3.iC; 
I  K.  8^  (not  in  (S^)  I2'^'^  (in  a  context  which  has  been  considerably  retouched), 
Hos.  yi"-^  (unintelligible  and  doubtless  corrupt);  see  Giesebrecht,  ZATVV.  i. 
1881,  p.  243  f.  In  Jud.  14^  we  have  the  word  used  of  a  swarm  of  bees. 
These  are  the  only  instances  in  pre-exilic  contexts.  Vnpj,  S^npn,  occur  in 
Jer.,  Dt.  and  later;  further  see  i  K.  8^-2  12-1.  —  pp';']  iy  .  .  .  pS  of  place, 
Zech.  1^^',  of  time,  Jud.  ig^O;  other  phrases,  rw^  ti7i  ^'''NdS,  pap  nyi  Snj::^, 
Dito  "\>'i  JJID*?,  &c.  —  noi'cn]  on  the  forms  njps::  and  hdxd  see  on  ii^^,  p.  289. — 
2.  oyn  Sd  n^Js]  the  metaphor  is  probably  the  same  as  in  the  Arab,  rukn, 
'corner,  main  stay,  noble'  (Lane,  p.  1149a');  Ges.,  Jesaia,  i.  p.  624;  cf. 
Ephes.  2^0  I  Pet.  2'^  (Is.  28^^).  —  D^nVxH  dj?  Snp:^]  cf.  2\^'-^\  on  the  usage  of 
h7\x^  see  Holzinger,  ZATW.  ix.  p.  105  f.  — 3in  ^y:'\  v.i5.  17. 25.  35.  46  cf.  8i'> 
I  Chr.  21^  &c. ;  We.,  Comp.,  p.  236.-3.  rxrn  r\'}'\r\  ^n^-lJ  njns  n^-t]  is  nut 
in  Hebrew  an  indirect  question  (Dr.  in  BDB.  p.  32b).  nD>N  Dt.  ii-  7I" 
Jer.  8^  &c.  nn^nj  19*^ — 4.  M^n  r^xn]  19I;  see  on  4*,  p.  114.  —  T^-v'!<r\ 
nnx-ijn]  We.  (Bleek*,  p.  202,  Comp.,  p.  236)  notes  this  expression  as  "vollig 
unhebraisch  " ;  Bu.  suspects  that  the  words  are  a  gloss;  cf.  however  nc'Nn 
n3:sjn  i  S.  I'^S  Ez.  iG^"-^. — 5.  n>'3jn  •>Sv2]  cf.  ao:y  •«'?;'2  92  and  comm.  there. 
pr'241.  — Jinn'?  ID"!  ^niN]  the  verb  Is.  lo"^  (H^'^'n)  Is.  14^*  (llnO.  Nu.  33^, 
'conceive  a  plan  in  imagination.'  — ij>']  192-*.- 6.  Snt>:'>  n^nj  ms'  '?02]  ©  ^i* 
Travri  o/a/y  KXTjpovo/jLia^  k.t.L  is  probably  only  free  translation  under  the  influ- 
ence of  1929;  cf.  HE.  nnu',  'territory,  land'  {ager),  see  on  5*.  VNnr^  r^nj 
is  Palestine,  cf.  Ez.  35I5  Is'.  58^^  Dt.  ^'^  &c.  — njr]  Ez.  i627-43.58  229-"  23 
passim;  cf.  Jer.  132"  Job  31II  cf.  v.^  Hos.  69  cf.  v.i^  The  word  is  a  late 
gloss  which  was  not  in  the  copy  from  which  the  oldest  Greek  translation  was 
made  (>(gAPVLMO.  (gs  sub  ast.  fe^ujiia,  cf.  S;  ^  f^/xa).*  The  reading  fcMMo. 
a  mere  transliteration  of  ncr,  is  doubtless  from  9  (cf.  Hexapla  Lev.  iS*" 
Ez.  1 62"  22^);  f^^a  is  perhaps  the  attempt  of  a  scribe  to  make  Greek  of  it 
(Scharfenberg). — 7.  Ssnii'^  "-ja  03*^3  njn]  ':'N1^'"'  "JJ  is  not  predicate,  you  are 
all  Israelites,  which  is  meaningless,  but  vocative.      cd'^d  r\:i-y  is  a  complete 


©N  has  a  double  translation  of  n'?3j. 


426  JUDGES 

proposition;  cf.  ^Jjn  in  response  to  a  call,  Gen.  22^  i  S.  3^  22I'-;  it  adestis 
omnes  filit  Israel';  so  Lth.,  Schm.  —  ns;  .  .  .  ijn]  2  S.  16^0;  :3n«,  only  in  in\v. 
—  oSn]  hither,  i8^  to  this  case,  not,  'on  the  spot,  at  this  time'  (Be.,  SS.).— 
8.  ^ShnS  fiN  ^SJ  nV]  the  plural  v^itin'?  is  much  more  common  in  this  phrase; 
in  the  two  other  instances  in  which  the  sing,  is  found  (2  S.  iS^"  2  K.  14I-)  it  is 
corrected  to  the  plur.  by  the  Qere. 

9,  10.  The  Israelites  adopt  a  plan.  —  They  will  detail  one- 
tenth  of  the  force  to  collect  provisions  for  the  rest ;  then  they 
will  requite  the  crime  of  the  Gibeathites  as  it  deserves.  —  In  this 
form  the  verses  can  hardly  be  ascribed  to  the  original  narrator ; 
what  part  of  them,  if  any,  is  derived  from  his  story,  it  is  scarcely 
possible  to  decide.  The  difficulty  is  increased  by  the  faultiness 
of  the  text.  —  9.  Before  the  last  words  of  v.^,  against  it  by  lot,  the 
verb  is  lacking  :  (^  has.  We  will  go  up  against  it,  c^c,  which  may. 
represent  the  original  text.*  In  the  sequel  nothing  is  said  of 
casting  lots ;  most  commentators  suppose  that  one  man  in  ten 
was  drafted  by  lot  to  serve  in  the  commissariat,  the  remainder 
being  thus  virtually  chosen  for  active  service ;  f  but  this  is  not 
altogether  natural.  If  the  missing  verb  is  rightly  suppHed  by  (3, 
we  should  be  inclined  to  connect  the  words,  zae  will  go  up  against 
it  by  lot,  with  v.^'*,  in  which  they  inquire  of  the  oracle  what  tribe 
shall  first  go  up  ;  and  as  v.^^  unquestionably  belongs  to  the  second- 
ary, if  not  to  a  tertiary,  stratum  in  the  chapter,  v.^''  would  fall  with 
it.  — 10.  And  we  will  take  ten  men  from  a  hundred,  of  all  the 
tribes  of  Israel,  and  a  hundred  from  a  thotisand,  and  a  thousand 
from  a  myriad,  to  p7'ocure  provisions  for  the  people'\  we  are  to 
imagine  three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  men  sitting  down 
within  an  hour's  march  of  Gibeah,  while  forty  thousand  foragers 
scour  the  country  for  provisions.  %  These  absurdities  would  be 
lessened  if,  with  Budde,  we  could  ascribe  v.^°  to  a  different  source 
from  v.^''-^^,  and  regard  the  last  clauses,  a  hundred  from  a  thou- 
sand, Q^c,  as  editorial  exaggeration ;   but  this  appears  very  haz- 

•  It  may,  however,  merely  be  supplied  from  the  context;  1LS>2r  have  filled  the 
lacuna  differently.  Bu.  conjectures,  We  will  cast  lots  over  it  (cf.  S),  which  suits 
the  following  verse  better,  but  requires  a  greater  change  in  the  text ;  see  further  in 
crit.  note.  f  Ki.,  Stud.,  al. 

t  Like  P  in  the  narratives  of  the  Exodus,  the  author  seems  to  have  no  difficulty 
in  conceiving  all  these  thousands  as  concentrated  at  a  single  point ;  in  his  imagina- 
tion thc-y  do  not  occupy  space. 


XX.  9-1 1  427 

ardous  ;  it  is  really  only  for  the  vast  "  congregation  "  of  v.-'"  that 
such  an  organization  of  the  commissariat  is  necessary.  —  In  v.'"^ 
the  text  is  again  fliulty,  as  may  be  seen  with  sufficient  clearness  in 
AV.,  "  that  they  may  do,  when  they  come  to  Gibeah  of  lienjamin, 
according  to  all  the  folly  that  they  have  wrought  in  Israel,"  though 
the  difficulty  of  the  Hebrew  text  is  here  in  good  part  glossed  over. 
lVhe?i  they  come  is  generally  explained,  when  the  foraging  parties 
return ;  *  others  interpret,  that  the  people,  when  they  come  to 
Gibeah,  may  do  as  the  folly  they  have  wrought  in  Israel  deserves.f 
On  either  interpretation,  the  position  and  construction  of  the 
words  are  in  the  highest  degree  unnatural,  if  not  grammatically 
impossible.  The  omission  of  them  leaves  an  unimpeachable  sen- 
tence and  sense  :  to  do  to  Gibeah  of  Benjamin  as  all  the  wanton- 
ness which  it  has  wrought  in  Israel  deserves.  See  crit.  note.  — 
11.  All  the  Israelite,  forces  gathered  together  to  the  city  like  one 
7nan,  as  confederates^  so  the  Hebrew  text  must  be  translated. 
The  verse  presents  considerable  difficulty,  both  in  itself  and  in  its 
relation  to  the  narrative  in  which  it  stands.  The  city  must  be 
Gibeah,  but  this  is  not  easy  to  reconcile  either  with  the  preceding, 
where  the  Israelites  are  already  assembled  at  Mizpah  in  the  imme- 
diate neighbourhood,  and  v.^^  where  the  Benjamites  concentrate  at 
Gibeah,  or  with  v.^''*^-,  in  which  Bethel  appears  to  be  the  head- 
quarters of  the  united  Israelites  (see  on  v.^^).  The  verse  is  doubt- 
less one  of  the  later  additions  to  the  narrative.  The  last  words, 
as  confedei'ates,  are  generally  thought  to  refer  to  the  unanimity 
with  which  they  acted,  eadem  niente,  unoque  consilio.  % 

9.  '^-iiJ3  n^S;-]  (5  dva^'ncofjieea  iw'  avr^v  iv  KX-^pcp  as  if  reading  n^Sy  r\^';i 
SiiJ3;  in  this  collocation  of  words  the  verb  might  easily  be  dropped;  Ki., 
RJes.,  al.  mu.,  supply  n^yj  to  complete  the  sense.  tlT  N3n>'3  n^;  ^jcnj,  we  7vill 
be  told  off  against  it  by  lot,  evidently  connecting  it  with  v.iO;  S)  we  will  cast 
lots  upon  it,  in  which  way  Cler.  would  complete  the  sense  ('J3  n>S>'  ':''3^).§ 
Bu.  would  emend  Sn^ja  n^^sj  and  make  the  words  the  beginning  of  v.^O;  the 
phrase  S-\U3  S^sn  does  not,  however,  occur  in  O.T.  (always  "^lu  S^on),  and  is 
dubious  Hebrew.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  seems  safest  to  follow  (5, 
though  it  must  be  allowed  that  its  dva^vaofieda  may  be  only  an  easy  conjec- 

*  Abarb.,  Schm.,  JHMich.,  Stud.  t  Ke. 

J  IL;   so  probably  STS  ;   Ra,,  Ki.,  Schm. 

§  Cf.  also  Be.,  Ke.,  who  assume  an  aposiopcsis.  aifainst  it  by  lot!  treat  it  like  a 
heathen  city ;  cf.  Nu.  33^-*-  362  &c. 


428  JUDGES 

ture.  —  10.  'Ji  >'3jS  0X2*?  ma^S  D>S  ms  rnp'^]  that  the  text  is  corrupt  is  evi- 
dent at  a  glance.  First  of  all,  for  }:2)h  we  must  read  ny^jS;  they  had  nothing 
to  do  with  Geba.  Further,  in  the  logic  of  speech,  the  three  infinitives  should 
have  the  same  subject,  viz.,  the  foragers.  If  the  author  had  meant  to  say,  as 
the  interpreters  suppose :  We  will  take  ten  men  out  of  every  hundred  ...  to 
procure  provisions  for  the  army,  that,  when  they  return,  we  (or  the  army)  may 
do  to  Gibeah  as  they  deserve,  — he  would  have  expressed  himself  very  differ- 
ently. (g-VPVSLO  g  Xa^eiP  eiri<riTiaixbv  t(^  \aip  einTeKiaai  Tots  elairopevoix^voLS 
TV  Ta/Saa  k.tJ.*  i.e.  n;'3jS  c^N3^,  the  ptcp.  probably  taken  after  the  analogy 
of  Gen.  23^'^  (jravTuv  rdv  dairopevonevoiv  els  T7)p  ttoXiv),  for  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city.  (3^^  transposes  the  ptcp.,  rep  Xa^  rots  elairopevofi^pocs  eirLreKiaai 
TT]v  Yapaa,  to  get  provisions  for  the  people,  namely,  for  those  who  are  going 
in  to  requite  Gibeah,  &c.  Neither  Dsb^  fH  nor  cn3^  (g  can.be  tolerated 
between  niir'yS  and  nj;:ij'?.  The  general  context  gives  no  security  for  a  more 
positive  conjecture;  the  most  plausible  explanation  is  that  the  word  came  in 
as  a  gloss  to  d;""^,  perh.  meant  as  inf.,  ///«/  i(/iey  may  go  to  do  to  Gibeah,  &c. — 

11.  onan  ins  C'^-nd]  an:3n  in  the  sense  of  associated,  allied  tribes,  Ez.  37I6; 
perhaps  we  may  compare  the  Habiri  of  the  Amarna  tablets.  (&  f  has  for 
anan  ipxap-evoL  (ipxd/^^vos),  which  is  probably  a  corruption  of  ^xoV^J'Oi,  for 
onDn;   cf.  Ex.  26^  Ez.  i^.     The  versions  all  seem  to  support  f§. 

12-17.  The  Israelites  demand  the  surrender  of  the  guilty 
men;  the  Benjamites  refuse,  and  prepare  for  war.  —  The 
account  of  the  negotiations  seems  to  belong  entirely  to  the  later 
embellishment  of  the  narrative  ;  v.^"^  alone  is  probably  original.  — 

12.  T/ie  tribes  of  Israel  sent  men  through  all  the  tribe  of  Benja- 
7nin~\  '^,  all  the  tribes  of  Benjamin ;  cf.  i  S.  9-^  —  IVhat  wicked- 
ness is  this,  &'c.']  compare  the  procedure  prescribed  in  Dt.  13^"^', 
also  Jos.  22"**-.  — 13.  They  demand  that  the  offending  Gibeathites 
be  given  up.  —  That  we  may  put  them  to  death,  and  exti^-pate 
the  evil  from  Is7'ael~\  a  peculiarly  Deuteronomic  conception  and 
phrase  ;  %  elsewhere  only  in  Dt.  By  the  death  of  the  criminal  the 
community  expiates  the  crime,  and  averts  from  itself  the  conse- 
quences which  the  unexpiated  guilt  of  one  of  its  members  would 
bring  upon  the  whole  clan,  tribe,  or  people  ;  cf  the  famihar  exam- 
ples of  Achan  (Jos.  7),  and  of  Saul  and  the  Gibeonites  (2  S.  21). 
—  The  Benjamites  refused  to  listen  to  the  words  of  their  brethren 
the  Israelites']  the  fraternal  spirit  in  which  this  war  is  carried  on 

•  ©O  «i?  Trjv  Vafiaa.  f  Except  B. 

X  Driver,  O.  T.  Lit.,  p.  93,  Deut.,  p.  Ixxx. ;  Holzinger,  Einl.  in  den  Hexateuch, 
p.  285. 


XX.   I2-I6 


429 


is  touching;  cL  v.^-\  —  l^.  The  Benjamites  assembled  from  the 
towns  to  Gibeah,  to  go  out  to  battle  with  the  Israelites']  the  verse 
is  an  indispensable  part  of  the  story,  and  probably  comes  from 
the  original  source,  in  which  it  would  naturally  follow  v."^.  If 
^_3b-8  ^Qj.  3b-io^  ^^Q  -j^  substance  from  the  same  source,  v:'''  must 
have  been  displaced ;  it  should  follow  those  verses  and  precede 
v.^''.*  — 15.  The  Benjamites  mustered,  from  their  towns,  twenty- 
six  thousand  warriors,  exclusive  of  the  inhabitants  of  (libeah,  who 
raised  seven  hundred  men.  There  is  a  discrepancy  of  eleven 
hundred  between  this  total  and  the  sum  of  the  figures  given  in 
v.''"^^,  while  the  summary  in  v.^  does  not  agree  with  either.  In 
v.^^  (3  has  twe7ity-five  thousand^  which  more  nearly  tallies  with 
v.'*^"'*^,  but  may,  for  that  reason,  be  suspected  of  being  a  correc- 
tion.!—  Not  including  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeah;  they  mustered 
seven  hundred  young  warriors]  "  seven  hundred  young  warriors  " 
is  also  the  number  of  the  left-handed  slingers  in  v.'^.  This  identity 
of  number  and  phrase  is  suspicious. — 16.  Out  of  all  this  force 
there  were  seven  hundred  left-handed  young  wa?'rio?'s ;  every  one 
of  this  number  could  sling  a  stone  at  a  hair  a?id  not  miss]  see 
above  on  v.^^''.  Budde  thinks  v.^^  a  gloss  derived  from  3'',  X  but 
neither  the  contents  of  the  verse  nor  the  tradition  of  the  text 
warrant  so  summary  a  dismissal  of  the  difficulty ;  v.^*''',  which  is 
not  suggested  by  anything  in  the  context  or  any  parallel  in  the 
O.T.,  has  a  strong  presumption  in  its  favour ;  v.^'''^  may  have  orig- 
inated in  an  accidental  repetition  of  the  words  seve7i  hundred 
young  warriors  from  v.^^^,  which  were  then  worked  into  the  con- 
text in  v.^^'*  as  well  as  the  case  permitted.  I  conjecture,  therefore, 
that  the  author  wrote  :  ^^^  Not  including  the  inhabitants  of  Gibeah, 
who  mustered  seven  hundred  young  warriors.     ^"^  All  this  force 


*Bu. 

t  Cf.  Fl.  Jos.,  anti.  v.  2,  10  ^  156  (25,600).  According  to  ^  the  total  strength  of 
the  Benjamites,  including  the  men  of  Gibeah,  was  26,700  (v.i5).  In  the  third  day's 
battle  there  fell  18,000  +  5000  +  2000  =  25,000,  while  600  escaped  from  the  slaughter 
(v;44-47).  There  remain  thus  iioo  to  be  accounted  for.  Ki,  and  others  have  sup- 
posed that  this  number  of  Benjamites  were  killed  in  the  first  two  days*  fighting,  in 
which  their  losses  are  not  recorded  (v.2i.  -'s)  ;  but  it  is  hard  to  imagine  that  the 
author,  who  enters  so  minutely  into  these  statistics,  should  have  left  the  losses  in 
the  first  two  days  to  be  learned  by  this  kind  of  calculation.     See  below  on  v.-«ff-. 

X  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  152. 


430  JUDGES 

{i.e.  all  the  Benjamites,  cf.  v.^'"^)  could  sling  a  stone  at  a  hair  Hne 
and  not  miss  *  The  skill  of  the  Benjamites  as  archers  and  sHngers 
is  celebrated  also  in  i  Chr.  1 2-^-.t  Their  fabulous  marksmanship 
may  possibly  be  noted  here  in  order  to  help  explain  the  heavy 
losses  of  the  Israelites  in  the  first  two  engagements.^  — 17.  And 
the  Israelites,  excluding  Benjamin,  ffiustered  fonr  hundred  thou- 
sand fighting  inen'\  the  author's  conception  of  the  solidarity  of 
Israel  is  such  that  he  thinks  it  necessary  formally  to  except  Ben- 
jamin from  the  general  levy  raised  against  that  tribe  ! 

12.  p^j3  •'l:3C*  ^j3]  cf.  I  S.  9^1  P"|J3  •'tDJaa'  mna^J'n  ^ya.  In  both  cases  the 
error  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  a  ""lO:)!:'  in  the  preceding  context.  All 
the  versions  here  render  a  singular.  The  explanation  of  We.,  Sta.,  Dr.,  al. 
(in  Samuel),  Be.,  al.  here,  that  the  archaic  form  of  the  constr.  sg.,  "'tpfi^,  is 
intended,  is  less  probable.  The  Jewish  comm.  assume  that  QiD^ty  is  here 
equivalent  to  mni:^::;  see  esp.  Ki.,  who  cites  the  converse  use  of  nnsro  for 
oac',  132  if  Jos.  7I'.  — 13.  Vv"'S:3  ij3  D^ir'jxn]  cf.  iq^"-^  and  note  there. — 
'^NiU'"'a  nyn  nnp^ji]  read  n>*-in;  the  indispensable  article  has  been  lost  by 
haplography.  Cf.  the  Deuteronomic  VNna'^D  ;;in  my^i,  Dt.  1712  2222.  —  n^i 
p-'ja  13n]  Qere  inserts  "'JJ  before  p''J2;  the  correction  belongs  to  the  class 
technically  called  3\no  xSi  >'y^,  in  which  a  word  not  found  in  the  consonant 
text  is  inserted;  there  are,  according  to  the  Massora,  ten  instances  in  the 
O.T.;  see  Ochla  we-Ochla,  No.  97.  The  correction  here  is  no  doubt  right 
(Stud.,  cf.  (5),  though  pij3  ON  nS  presents  no  grammatical  difficulty. — 
15.  p>j2  1J3  Tip3.'^;i]  cf.  iipanri  v.i^-i^,  Ii^stim  2i9t;  npsjnn  Nu.  i*^  2^3  i^P'^ 
I  K,  icr*  ^  The  forms  are  anomalous  and  have  been  variously  explained : 
{a)  as  Hithpael  (Ki.,  Ges.,  Ew.,  01.,  K6.,  al.);  or  {b)  as  t  reflexive  of  Kal, 
corresponding  to  Aram.  Ithpe'el,  Arab.  Ifta'ala  (Nold.,  Kautzsch,  Sta.).  The 
correctness  of  the  tradition  may  be  questioned ;  the  latter  is  the  more  accept- 
able explanation  of  the  forms.  See  on  the  one  side  K6.,  i.  p.  198  f.;  on  the 
other,  Ges. 25  p.  150.  —  tt'"«N  ^iSn  rwvy  Dnc'j;]  (gAPVLMNO  g  j  elKoai  koX  irhTe 
XiXiiScs  (Sal.  TT^vTe  Kal  etKOCL)  :  ^  etKoai  rpeTs  xiXidSes  is  apparently  quite 
isolated.  §  Fl.  Jos.  gives  the  total  25,600,  prob.  by  simple  addition  of  \.'^^-  ^^. 
—  p  naS]  V.17  82o._np£3Pn]  with  the  construction  Stud,  compares  Dt.  3^ 
I  K.  58^;  see  also  2  Chr.  9'4__i6^  ^^^,2  'J-^n  nivso  ';Ti'  nrn  nyn  'r'j?:]  in  (gs  g 
these  words  are  asterisked;  they  are  wanting  in  (gALai..  cf.  also  ^.\\  It 
appears  therefore  that  the  pre-hexaplar  Greek  version,  as  well  as  US,  recog- 
nized only  the  seven  hundred  Gibeathites;    K  alone  agrees  with  %      It  is 

♦  This  emendation  is  supported  by  the  versions;  see  crit.  note. 

t  Some  of  them  of  Saul's  clan  ;  v.2-  3. 

t  This  may,  however,  be  ascribing  to  the  author  too  much  reflection. 

5  Perhaps  »  represents  an  erroneous  B'Z^hy  for  n::'-'  of  ffl. 

II  See  TAe  Book  of  Judges  in  Hebrew. 


XX.  I6-I7  431 

possible  that  the  words  in  v.^'"'  were  lost  by  homoeoteleuton  in  the  Hebrew 
manuscript  from  which  (S  was  translated;  but  more  probable  that  the  corrup- 
tion is  in  1^.  —  irD>  n^  -mdh]  see  on  3^^  The  words  seem  to  have  been 
borrowed  from  the  description  of  the  Benjamite  Ehud  (3'^),  perhaps  by  some 
one  who  took  the  word  in  the  sense,  d/xcpoTepod^^io^  ((SIL) ;  it  is  scarcely 
likely  that  he  meant  to  represent  the  whole  corps  as  left-handed.  —  y'^p  nr  ^3] 
of.  v.17^,  nr:nSo  •^'''N  nr  Sd.  The  sing,  n;  is  explained  by  the  sing,  antecedents 
and  the  sing,  predicate.*  y'^p  i  S.  17*^  2529,  —  pso]  a  instrumenti.  —  nn^'rri] 
Norzi,  Baer;  cf.  Ki.,  Alichlol,  147a,  ed.  Lyck.  Locative  of  -\';jy  Is.  7*';  Ges.^s 
p.  244.  The  common  text,  n-\j;c*n,  is  fem.  {itomen  unitatis)  of  nyt"  or  -»>if .  — 
^^Dl  *<^i]  ^nake  a  miss  ;  the  verb  might  also  be  pronounced  as  Kal. 

18-28.  The  first  two  battles ;  the  Israelites  are  defeated 
with  heavy  losses.  —  After  inquiring  of  the  oracle  at  Bethel  what 
tribe  shall  first  deliver  the  attack,  the  Israelites  march  upon  Gib- 
eah  and  take  position  before  it  (v.^^"^).  The  Benjamites  sally 
from  the  town  and  attack  them  with  such  fury  that  twenty-two 
thousand  Israelites  are  left  on  the  field,  while  the  assailants  sustain 
no  loss  (v.-^).  Undaunted  by  their  repulse,  the  Israelites  offer 
battle  the  next  day  on  the  same  ground  (v.--) .  They  go  up  to 
Bethel  and  weep  before  Yahweh  till  evening;  they  consult  the 
oracle  to  learn  whether  they  shall  renew  the  fight,  and  receive  an 
affirmative  response  (v.^).  In  the  second  day's  engagement,  the 
Benjamites  inflict  on  them  a  loss  of  eighteen  thousand  men  (v.-^*^-). 
The  Israelites  withdraw  to  Bethel,  and  weep,  fast,  and  offer  sacri- 
fices to  Yahweh  ;  they  inquire  of  Phinehas  the  priest  whether  they 
shall  continue  the  war,  or  desist ;  Yahweh  bids  them  fight  again, 
and  promises  them  success  the  next  day  (v.-*'"^).  —  Verse  ^^  prob- 
ably belongs  to  the  original  narrative ;  all  the  rest  is  secondary ; 
w?^,  which  is  absurd  after  v.^-,  seems  to  be  a  later  interpolation 
borrowed  from  v.-^'^^,  and  v.^*  may  have  been  inserted  by  the  same 
hand  to  restore  the  connexion.  This  way  of  making  war,  in  which 
the  operations  are  immediately  directed  by  Yahweh  through  his 
oracle,  and  the  fighting  interspersed  with  religious  exercises,  is 
altogether  different  from  the  wars  of  the  judges  in  the  former  part 
of  the  book.  It  is  not  history,  it  is  not  legend,  but  the  theocratic 
ideal  of  a  scribe  who  had  never  handled  a  more  dangerous  weapon 
than  an  imaginative  pen. 

*  Cf.  Lev.  ii4-  'J  Dt.  14' ;  Driver,  Deuteronomy,  p.  161. 


432  JUDGES 

18.  They  arose  and  went  up  to  Bethel~\  see  on  i'^  (p.  40,  42) 
and  20"-'^.  As  the  narrative  now  runs,  the  Israehtes  assemble  at 
Mizpah  {y}),  then  collect  at  Gibeah  itself  (v."),  where  they  are 
confronted  by  the  Benjamites  (v.^^) .  Now  they  turn  about  and 
march  away  to  Bethel,  three  or  four  hours  distant  to  the  north,  to 
consult  the  oracle.  The  later  writer  was  much  more  concerned 
that  the  ''congregation"  should  act  in  accordance  with  correct 
theocratic  principles  than  that  the  verisimilitude  of  the  story 
should  be  preserved.  —  And  the  Israelites  inquired  of  God,  Who 
of  us  shall  first  go  up  to  battle  against  the  Benjamites  ?  A7id 
Yahweh  answered,  Judah  first'\  substance  and  phrase  are  obvi- 
ously borrowed  from  i^^.*  In  the  following  verses  nothing  is  to 
be  discovered  of  such  a  precedence  of  Judah.  Bertheau  suspects 
that  the  verse  is  an  interpolation  in  the  later  narrative ;  t  but  it  is 
quite  as  likely  that  both  the  borrowing  and  the  resulting  inconsist- 
ency should  be  attributed  to  the  author  of  that  narrative  himself.  — 
19.  Perhaps  part  of  the  original  story.  —  From  Mizpah,  where  they 
assembled  (v.^),  the  Israelites  marched  against  Gibeah  to  punish 
its  inlmbitants  as  they  had  resolved  (v.^  with  its  original  sequel). 
Verse  ^'-^  was  probably  followed  by  v.^.  —  20.  The  Israehtes  move 
out  for  battle  and  form  their  lines  in  the  vicinity  of  Gibeah.  Cf. 
v.^^-^  Gen.  14^.  +  —  21.  The  Benjamites  march  out  against  them 
from  Gibeah,  and  slaughter  twenty-two  thousand  men.  Lit.  de- 
stroyed of  Israel  twenty- two  thousand  men  to  the  earth  ;  left  them 
slain  on  the  field;  cf.  v.-'^,  the  verb  also  v.^-^  2  S.  11^  Dan,  8^^ 
—  22.  The  people,  the  Isixielites,  took  courage,  and  again  arrayed 
t/icir  battle  on  the  same  ground^  it  is  possible  that  the  old  story 
also  told  of  a  repulse  of  the  Israelites  in  their  first  assault,  and 
that  this  is  the  basis  of  the  verse  before  us ;  the  first  words  are 
not  altogether  in  the  manner  of  the  post-exilic  writer,  and  the 
contradiction  between  v.^^  and  v.^  would  thus  be  explained.  If 
this  is  not  the  case,  v.^'^  must  be  an  interpolation  by  a  still  later 
hand,  derived  from  v.^--^  —  23.  The  Israelites  go  up  (to  Bethel, 
v."-^')  and  weep  before  Yahweh  until  evening  (v.^®  21^  cf.  Jos.  f 
Joel   2^2- ")  ;    they  inquire  of  Yahweh  whether  they  shall  again 

•  The  words  of  ii  are  perhaps  incorrectly  understood  ;  see  crit.  note. 

t  So  also  Bu. 

X  The  parallels  to  Gen.  14  in  these  verses  are  to  be  especially  noted. 


XX.  18-27  433 

engage  in  battle  with  their  brethren  of  Benjamin,  and  arc  bidden 
to  do  so  (v.-'*').  On  the  origin  of  this  verse  see  above  on  v.^. 
The  day  of  humihation  before  Yahweh  cannot  possibly  follow  the 
formation  for  battle  on  the  second  day  (v."),  nor  can  we  construe 
v.-^  as  a  parenthesis  in  the  pluperfect.*  —  24,  25.  On  the  second 
day  the  Israelites  again  advanced  against  the  Benjamites ;  the  lat- 
ter, as  before,  marched  out  to  meet  them,  and  inflicted  upon  them 
a  loss  of  eighteen  thousand  warriors;  cf.  v.-'.f  —  26.  The  Israel- 
ites withdraw  to  Bethel.  —  And  wept,  and  sat  there  before  Yahweh, 
and  fasted  that  day  until  evening,  and  offered  burnt  offerings  and 
peace  offerings  before  Yahweh']  cf.  v.^  21-'*.  They  made  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  to  propitiate  Yahweh  ;  cf.  Dt.  i"''^  Ezra  10^  Joel  2" 
(weeping),  i  S.  f  Joel  i"  2^^  (fasting).  Burnt  offeri?igs  and 
peace  offerings  are  frequently  named  together  (21'*  i  S.  10'*  11'^ 
13^  2  S.  6^^  24^  &c.)..  The  former  were  wholly  consumed  by  fire 
upon  the  altar  (6-^  11^^  j^ie.^s^  ;  while  in  the  latter,  after  the  fat 
was  burned  and  the  priest  had  received  his  perquisites,  the  rest 
of  the  flesh  furnished  a  feast  for  those  who  brought  the  offering. 
The  translation  peace  offering  is  conventional  ;  \  the  original  sig- 
nificance of  the  term  is  unknown.  Others  render  '  thank-offer- 
ings,' §  or  o-coTTJ/oia.  II  —  27,  28.  They  consult  the  oracle  again  ;  cf. 
^18. 23_  Verse  -"''  and  ^^'"*,  which  interrupt  the  connexion,  are  no 
doubt  late  glosses,^  meant  to  explain  why  the  sacrifices  were 
offered  and  the  oracle  consulted  at  Bethel  instead  of  Shiloh,  where 
the  ark  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  remained  from  the  days  of 
Joshua  (Jos.  1 8^°)  to  those  of  Eli.  The  same  reflection  led  many 
interpreters  to  take  the  words  beth  el  in  this  chapter  appellatively, 
the  house  of  God,  that  is,  Shiloh.**  There  is  no  other  mention  of 
the  ark  in  the  Book  of  Judges.  The  phrase  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  God,  in  5^  i  S.  4-*  2  S.  15-"'  i  Chr.  16'';  cf.  the  more  frequent, 
ark  of  the  covenant  of  Yahweh.      Neither  is  found  in  old  and 


*  IL,  Vatabl.,  AV.,  RV.,  al.     Stud.  conj.  that  the  verses  are  accidentally  trans- 
posed. 

t  On  the  question  whether  the  oracle  (v.—)  was  deceptive  or  false,  see  Stud. ;  cf. 
also  Ki.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  Ke. 

+  ©  in  Reg.,  'A20,  IL,  AV.,  al.  mu.  k  Fl.  Jos, 

II  Philo,     See  Nowack,  Hebr.  Archdologie,  ii.  p.  211  ff.  11  Be. 

**  So  !L  in  V.I8  :  venerunt  in  domum  Dei,  hoc  est,  in  Silo  ;  Ra.  (on  191^),  Ki.  (on 
2o26),  RLbG.  10,  Vatabl.,  Drus.,  Cler.,  AV.,  al.  mu. 
2F 


434  JUDGES 

sound  texts.*  —  28.  A?id  Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar,  the  son  of 
Aaron  stood  before  him  in  those  days']  the  mention  of  Phinehas 
would  fix  the  time  of  the  action  in  the  first  generation  after  the 
occupation  of  Western  Palestine,t  to  which  period  it  is  assigned 
by  Josephus  and  the  Jewish  chronology ;  |  but  this  is  probably  no 
more  than  the  guess  of  a  very  late  editor  or  scribe.  §  It  is  pos- 
sible that  v.-^""^  is  an  older  gloss  than  v.^" :  in  any  case  we  must 
render,  in  accordance  with  the  usage  elsewhere  (Dt.  lo^),  ||  Phine- 
has ..  .  stood  before  him,  that  is  Yahweh  (v.^^),  rather  than, 
before  //  (the  ark,  v.-'''). 

The  question  why  Yahweh  allowed  the  Israelites,  whose  conduct 
in  the  whole  affair  was  beyond  reproach,  to  be  so  severely  pun- 
ished in  the  first  two  battles,  was  early  raised  by  the  interpreters. 
The  answer  most  frequently  given  is,  that  it  was  because  they  had 
tolerated  the  idolatry  of  Micah  and  the  Danites  (ch.  17  18).^ 

18.  Vn  ro]  two  words;  Ven.i-^,  Buxt.,  Jablonski,  Opit.,  Van  der  Hooght, 
JHMich.,  Mant.,  al.  plur.  Baer  Ssn^^,  in  conformity  to  the  general  rule  laid 
down  in  his  Lider  Genesis,  p.  76.  See  on  the  other  side,  Norzi  on  Gen.  12^ 
and  /i.  I.  The  Jewish  interpretation  here  (IL,  in  domum  Dei,  hoc  est  in  Silo  ; 
see  on  v.^")  shows  that  the  name  was  read  as  two  words;  and  Norzi  here 
remarks  that  wherever  Sx  no  has  appellative  sense  it  is  written  divisim.  — 
c^n^s2  i'i^nc'm]  see  on  i^;  cf.  18^  2o23.  27,  —  nSnno  min^]  so  2L.SE  also  read. 
The  ellipsis  of  the  significant  verb  is  not  frequent  in  Hebrew;  the  text  would 
be  construed,  Judas  sit  in  principio  (cf.  11,  Schm.).  ®  repeats  dva^rjaerai, 
which  also  stands  in  i'^.  In  the  present  passage  the  words  can  only  mean, 
Who  shall  be  first  in  the  attack;  not,  who  shall  first  attack,  as  in  i^;  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the   Hebrew  will  bear  this  sense;    see  on  i^  (p.  13). — 

20.  SN-^a'^  bmn]  v. II- 17-  20  bis  22.  alternating  with  ha-wi^^  ^12  v.i-  3-  ''•  i4. 19  &c.  B'-'N 
'^NiS'''  appears  chiefly  in  the  secondary  stratum;  but  the  use  is  not  constant 
enough   to   serve   as  a  criterion   for  the  analysis,  as   Be.  would   use   it.  — 

21.  nx-^N  .  .  .  iri-n'i'n]  ns-\N  must  be  taken  with  the  verb.      (3^^  adds  a-iru- 

*  See  We.,  TBS.  p.  55;  Seyring,  ZATW.  xi.  1891,  p.  1 14-125;  Couard,  ib.  xii. 
1892,  p.  60  ff.,  68.  t  See  Ex.  625  Nu.  2$'^-  Jos.  22I3  2488 ;  cf.  Jud.  iB^o. 

X  Seder  Olam,  c.  12.  According  to  the  Jewish  interpreters  Phinehas  consulted 
the  oracle  for  the  Israelites  in  Jud.  ii ;  see  comm.  there. 

^  "  In  the  whole  period  of  the  judges  we  read  nothing  of  the  ark,  or  of  the  High 
Priest"  (Stud.). 

II  I  K.  sii*  is  not  parallel,  not  to  raise  the  question  of  the  text  there  (cf.  ©). 

H  Sanhedrin,  103b;  Pirqe  de-R.  Eliezer  {Yalqut,  ^  86)  ;  Ra.,  Ki.,  Abarb.  Sub- 
stantially the  same  explanation  is  given  by  Cyrill.  Alex,  on  Hos.  9^.  The  more 
general  answer,  it  was  a  punishment  for  their  sins,  is  given  by  Orig.,  Thdt.,  Isidor. 
Pelus.,  Procop.  Gaz. ;  see  also  u  Ljra,  Schm.  {qu.^),  a  Lap. 


XX.  28  435 

lj.iv(jjv  pofxcpaAav,  as  in  v. 25.  —  22.  '-NT.:"'  v><A  Dj'n  prnrM]  the  last  words  arc- 
redundant;  cf.  V.20.  With  the  verb  cf.  i  S.  49.-23.  The  difficulty  in  the 
position  of  this  verse  is  felt  by  Jerome,  who  translates  :  ita  tamen  nt  prius 
ascendercnt  et  Jlerent  corani  Domino.  Others  evade  the  difficulty  by  a  vague 
translation  of  v.-^,  they  prepared  to  fight  again  (Schni.,  al.),*  but  the  language 
of  v.22b  is  as  explicit  as  possible :  they  formed  their  line  of  battle  again  on  the 
same  ground  on  which  they  had  formed  on  the  first  day.  —  '-Nnr"'  -ja  iSyi] 
Bu.  adds  7N  ro,  cf.  v.'-^**;  this  emendation  would  be  necessary  if  v.^^  were  an 
integral  part  of  the  later  narrative.  —  ncn^::'-'  Pti'jV]  jyjj  of  hostile  approach, 
2  S.  ioi3  Jer.  46=^;  cf.  3np  v.^-i  Ex.  h'-^^.  — 26.  D;?n  Ssi  Vn-i^m  ^ja  '^o]  cf.  v.'-", 
explained  as  the  explicative  use  of  the  conjunction,  even  all  the  people;  but 
the  redundancy  is  not  removed  by  the  name;  see  on  9"^,  p.  269.  —  7^^^')  iV>'M 
d^dSc'i]  21*  (the  only  other  instance  in  Jud.).  On  the  ccStt'  see  PI.  Jos., 
antt.  iii.  9,  2  §  228  f.  (dvaiai  x^P'-^'^'^P^oi-)  '■>  Philo,  de  victimis,  p.  243,  245  f. 
Qa-UTT^pLOP,  trepl  a-uTTjplov) ;  Si/ra,  Wayyiqra,  Par.  13,  §  16;  t  Di.  on  Lev.  3'; 
see  comm.  on  Lev.  I.e.  —  27.  O'-nSNn  rmj  ]nN]  (g'^LM  g  Kvpiov;  so  also  STS; 
cf.  I  S.  4'*.  BPVN  Kvpiov  ToO  deov,  %  area  foederis  Dei.  —  28.  vjoV  "icy]  not, 
stood  before  it  (EV.),  hvX  before  him  ;  in  priestly  service,  Dt.  lO^  18''  Ez.  44^^ 
&c. 

29-44.  The  third  battle ;  rout  and  slaughter  of  the  Benja- 
mites.  —  The  description  of  the  battle  is  badly  confused  :  in  v.'^ 
the  battle  is  over,  the  Benjamites  have  been  defeated  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  one  hundred  of  them  slain ;  in  v.^^  we  are  back 
again  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight ;  the  stratagem  and  the  discom- 
fiture of  the  Benjamites  is  narrated  again,  with  all  detail ;  on  the 
field  and  in  the  flight  twenty-five  thousand  are  killed  (v.'*^-"**').  The 
second  account  is  clearly  the  older ;  we  may  perhaps  ascribe  to 
•^ .  y_29..%b.,3-a.38.3<j*.40-42a.44a.47_  +  -phc  rest  is  latcr  amplification  and 
embelhshment.  The  stratagem  has  a  striking  resemblance  to  that 
employed  by  Joshua  against  Ai  (Jos.  Z^^^-y  cf.  especially  Jud.  20'^*'" 
with  Jos.  S^'-^*^-.),  but  the  phraseology  is  throughout  different,  nor 
does  our  narrative  bear  the  stamp  of  a  copy.  §  Doublets  in  the 
legendary  history  are  not  necessarily  evidence  of  literary  depend- 
ence. There  is  no  reason  why  such  a  ruse,  in  which  there  is 
nothing  very  original,  may  not  have  been  told,  or,  for  that  matter, 
practised,  more  than  once. 

*  Cf.  Cler.  t  Cf.  Malbim's  comm.  in  he. 

X  Traces  of  retouching  may  be  discovered  here  and  there  in  these  verses,  e.g. 
in  v.S'',  In  v.-*4a^  the  original  numbers  may  have  been  smaller  ;  but  this  cannot  be 
confidently  affirmed.  We  must  not  judge  even  the  older  narrative  by  our  standards 
of  historical  probability.  ^  We. 


436  JUDGES 

29.  Israel  put  men  in  ambush  against  Gibeah  around  the  town ; 
^f  32.34.43  ^s;.^.  The  verse  seems  to  come  from  the  old  story, 
which  probably  proceeded  to  tell  how  the  Benjamites  went  out  to 
battle  against  the  Israehtes  (as  in  v.-^- '^- ^\) ,  on  which  v.^^'^  would 
naturally  follow.  The  next  verses  (v.^o-s^a)  are  in  the  main  by  the 
later  author.  —  30.  The  Israelites  advanced  against  the  Benja- 
mites on  the  third  day,  and  formed  their  line  of  battle  as  they  had 
done  on  previous  occasions.  —  31.  The  Benjamites  marched  out 
to  meet  the  enemy,  and  began  to  make  a  slaughter  among  them 
as  on  the  former  days.  The  verse  is  in  substance  derived  from 
v.39b^  —  Xhey  were  di'awn  off  from  the  city\  the  words  stand  par- 
enthetically in  the  sentence,  in  whose  syntax  they  are  not  included  ; 
the  form  of  the  verb  is  also  anomalous.  The  clause  is  doubtless  a 
gloss  borrowed  from  Jos.  8^^  \  cf.  below,  vF'*  —  On  the  roads, 
one  of  which  goes  up  to  Bethel  mid  one  to  Gibeah,  in  the  field'] 
these  roads  are  mentioned  also  in  v.'^--  ^.  The  description  here  is 
not  intelligible  :  there  was  a  road  from  Gibeah  to  Bethel,  on  which 
the  author  may  very  well  have  represented  the  first  encounter 
between  the  Benjamites,  who  marched  out  of  Gibeah,  and  the 
Israelites,  who  were  advancing  from  Bethel,  as  taking  place ;  but 
what  shall  we  make  of  the  second  road,  leading  to  Gibeah?  A 
number  of  interpreters  have  felt  constrained  to  regard  the  Gibeah 
here  meant  as  a  different  place  from  that  elsewhere  named  in 
these  chapters,  Gibeah  in  the  fieU.^  Others  have  conjectured 
that  Geba  should  be  read ;  others,  Gibeon.  But  it  is  doubtful 
whether  we  have  a  right  to  expect  of  the  author  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  the  topography ;  cf.  the  laboured  effort  to  tell  us  where 
Shiloh  was,  2\^'\%  —  32.  The  Benjamites  thought  that  the  enemy 
was  routed  as  in  the  former  battles ;  but  the  Israehtes  were  only 
feigning  flight  to  draw  the  defenders  away  from  the  town.  In 
substance  derived  from  v.^**-  ^^ ;  in  phraseology  patterned  after 
Jos.  8^-  ^.  —  33.  All  the  men  of  Israel  ai'ose  from  their  place  and 
formed  line  of  battle  at  Baal-tamai']  Bertheau  understands  that 
they  abandoned  their  first  line  and  fell  back  in  feigned  disorder 
to  Baal-tamar,  where  they  re-formed.     This  agrees  well  enough 


•  Be.  t  Pise,  Tremell.,  AV.,  RV.,  Stud.,  Cass.,  Grove,  al. 

X  Cf.  also  Dt.  lib  ii80  &c. 


XX.  29-35  437 

with  the  requirements  of  the  stratagem,  but  does  violence  to  the 
author's  language  :  arose  from  their  place  cannot  mean,  made  a 
stand  and  reformed  their  lines*  Nor  do  we  escape  from  the 
difficulty  if,  with  Studer,  we  treat  the  verb  as  pluperfect ;  the 
Israelites  had  abandoned  their  first  position,  fo:.  It  might  be 
suspected  that  the  half- verse  came  from  the  older  narrative,  in 
which  it  would  have  a  passable  sense  and  connexion  after  v.-"^',  but 
the  construction  is  so  negligent,  not  to  say  ungrammatical,  that 
this  conjecture  is  hardly  to  be  entertained.  Baal-tamar  is  other- 
wise unknown.  According  to  Eusebius,  there  was  in  his  days  a 
Beth-thamar  in  the  vicinity  of  Gibeah.f  The  name  of  the  place 
was  given  it  by  its  sacred  palm  tree,  which  some  scholars  have 
proposed  to  identify  with  Deborah's  palm  (4'')  ;  %  but  the  latter, 
'  between  Ramah  and  Bethel,'  is  too  remote.  §  — And  the  ambush 
of  Israel  rushed  forth  from  its  place,  west  of  Gibeah~\  so  the  text 
is  to  be  emended  with  the  oldest  versions ;  cf.  Jos.  8*-  ^-  ^^  ||  5|, 
which  has  been  translated  in  a  variety  of  ways,  is  unintelligible 
and  plainly  corrupt.  Meadows  of  Gibeah  (AV.)  follows  ^T ; 
Maareh-geba  (RV.)^  is  merely  a  transcription  of  the  Hebrew 
words.  The  verb  rushed  forth  is  an  Aramaism ;  the  word  used 
for  west  is  found  only  in  comparatively  late  writers.**  —  34.  The 
men  who  had  been  put  in  ambush,  ten  thousand  young  warriors 
out  of  all  Israel,  gained  a  point  opposite  Gibeah.  3^  and  some 
manuscripts  of  J^  read  south  of  Gibeah  ;'\-\  but  this  is  either  an 
accident,  or  an  attempt  to  give  more  definiteness  to  the  somewhat 
vague  expression  in  the  text.  —  The  Benjamites,  who  were  now 
hotly  engaged  with  the  main  body  of  the  Israelites,  did  not 
perceive  the  disaster  which  was  imminent;  cf.  v."*^  Jo's.  8^^  — 
35.  Yahweh  defeated  Benfamin'\  2  Chr.  13^^  14'-.  —  The  Israel- 
ites slaughtered  twenty-five  thousand  one  hundred  Benjamites,  all 
warriors.  %%  The  statement  of  the  total  loss  properly  concludes 
the  account  of  the  battle,  as  in  v.-^-^"*'',  cf.  3-"-'  Jos.  8^  (Sec.     On 


*  Their  place  might  mean  the  place  where  they  had  been  encamped  (v.io),  or 
where  they  had  been  concealed  (Jos.  819).        j^  OS'^.  23875.        J  See  above,  p.  113  f. 

§  JC  understands  by  Baal-tamar,  Jericho,  the  city  of  palms  (1I6  3I8), 

II  Be. ;  see  crit.  note.  t  With  (pB>^. 

**  We  cannot,  therefore,  accept  Bu.'s  opinion,  that  v.'^'!'>  is  derived  from  the  older 
narrative.  ft  So  Houbigant.  \\  With  the  phraseology  cf.  v.-'-  -'. 


438  JUDGES 

the  numbers,  see  above  on  v.^^  —  36^.  And  the  Benjamites  saw 
that  they  were  beaten'\  the  few  hundred  survivors.  The  words 
make  a  ludicrous  impression  after  v5. 

29.  cons]  the  plur.  Jos.  8^  Jer.  5112*;  cf.  doind  Jud.  925  2  Chr.  2022.  The 
collective  sing,  anis  is  more  usual.  —  n;7aj)n  *?«]  cf.  Jos.  82  n^j;!"'.  — 30.  d>'3D 
c;"52]  v.'^^  16-''  (p.  357).  —  31.  -c^'n  jd  -iprun]  Hophal;  the  unassimilated  n 
suggests  Aramaic  influence  (Kautzsch,  Gram.  d.  Biblisch-Aramaischen,  §  42)  ; 
the  asyndetic  perf.  is  hardly  susceptible  of  a  grammatical  explanation,  —  that 
of  Roorda  (§  524)  will  not  pass.  If  the  words  were  on  other  accounts 
to  be  deemed  genuine,  it  would  be  best  to  emend,  ipnJM  Jos.  8^^  (cf.  Sta. 
§  126  r) ;  but  they  are  obviously  premature.  —  i'^hm]  SSn  Hiph. ;   cf.  below  v. 39. 

—  2^'?':'n]  v.^^  a  proleptic  figure;  smite  slain  men,  smite  them  dead.  —  nn^oj 
•r\\vi'\  Gibeah  in  the  field  is  not  the  intention  of  the  accents,  which  rightly 
take  riT^o  as  in  construction  parallel  to  ni':'D?:3,  on  the  roads  .  .  .  in  the  open 
field.  — Z%  nr^'Nnao]  Jos.  85-6  (tj'Nd),  cf.v.39  below.*  — mui^nji]  Kal;  on  p 
see  Ges.2i'  §  20,  2  b;  K6.,  i.  p.  309  f.  —  33.  iDipDD  "iDp  Sxt^'i  C'\x  Vdi]  the  coll. 
subject  is  construed  first  with  a  plural  and  then  with  a  singular,  which  is 
certainly  not  elegant.  Be.'s  translation,  they  arose,  each  from  his  place,  is 
not  admissible.  —  n-ijc]  the  vb.  in  O.T.  only  of  the  bursting  forth  of  water 
(Ez.  322  Job  38*^  4o23t;  "tHJ  Mi.  4!*^  is  very  questionable);  cf.  the  n.  pr.  pnij 
I  K.  i33.  In  WE^,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Aphel  of  this  verb  is  a  very 
common  word  for,  '  attack,  make  war  upon,'  oftenest  in  phrase  Nonp  njx,  but 
also  without  N3"ip,  e.g.  Dt.  20^0  Jos.  23^  Jud.  h.  L,  &c.  —  ;?3J  '^!?>''^'^]  (S^^'^slmo 
S  I  airh  dva-ixCov  TTJs  FajSaa,  i.e.  n]:2i'^  3ivDD;  so  also  IL  ab  occidentali  urbis 
parte.\  6^  Ma/)aa7ai3e,  N  codd.  Maa/aa  [r^s]  Va^aa.  3s  saw  in  the  first 
word  nnj,'?:,  '  cave,'  rendering,  from  the  cave  which  is  in  Gibeah ;  'ST  "ic'-'DD 
N"-;'3J,  probably  connecting  with  the  root  m>%  *  bare,  treeless  stretch  of  coun- 
try' (not  the  most  eligible  place  for  an  ambush!  J),  cf.  Ra.;  Ki.,  comparing 
Is.  \<^  ('''■i"»>)>§  Ps.  37^'',  thinks  the  word  may  signify  a  place  covered  viath 
verdure.  —  34.  r\'^ih  iJ?.)?]  numerous  codd.  of  |^  (Kenn.,  De  Rossi)  :ijpr, 
which  is  found  in  the  margin  of  the  Bomberg  Bibles  of  1518,^;  so  Houbi- 
gant  would  emend.     For  S  ijj::  cf.  Dt.  28'56  ^^d,  in  another  sense,  Prov.  14'^. 

—  n;-\n  cn">S>'  n>*jj  o]  v.^' ;  the  dependence  of  v.^*  on  v.*i  is  apparent  in  the 
unusual  complementary  preposition;   cf.  Jer.  51^  i  K.  627  (Sn). 

36^-44.  Another  account  of  the  battle.  —  The  verses  contain, 
not  the  scfiuel  to  the  description  of  the  battle  in  v.^^-^^%  but  a 
complete  parallel  to  it.  I|  As  far  as  v.^-"  this  narrative  appears  to 
be  intact,  and  bears  every  mark  of  being  derived  from  a  much 


*  On  D  before  prepositions  see  BDB.,  s.  v.,  Note. 

t  3i;'?:  in  prose  only  in  Chr.  (Stud.).  J  Be. 

^  According  to  the  Jewish  interpretation. 

II  See  the  ingenious  artificial  connexion  in  IL. 


XX.  36-40  439 

In  what  follows  v/-  we  may 
probably  ascribe  to  the  same  som-ce,  v/'"-  '^ ;  the  rest  appears  to 
be  entirely  the  work  of  a  later  hand.  —  SG*^.  The  men  of  Israel 
gave  gf'ound  to  Benjamin,  for  they  relied  on  Ihe  ambush  which 
they  had  laid  against  Gibeah'\  yP,  which  belongs  to  this  source, 
must  have  been  followed  by  an  account  of  the  beginning  of  the 
engagement,  which  has  been  superseded  by  v.'^'"-  or  buried  in 
those  verses.*  —  37.  And  the  ambnsh  made  haste  and  rushed 
upon  Gibeah  ;  and  the  ambush  moved  out,  and  smote  all  the  city 
without  quarter']  the  repetition,  together  with  a  change  in  the 
grammatical  construction,  make  it  probable  that  the  second  half- 
verse  is  a  gloss.  —  38.  The  time  had  been  agreed  upon  by  the 
men  of  Israel  with  the  party  in  ambusJi,^  for  them  to  send  up 
the  signal  smoke  from  the  city,  39.  and  that  the  men  of  Israel 
should  turn  about  in  the  battle]  that  upon  this  signal  the  Israel- 
ites, who  were  retreating  in  feigned  discomfiture,  should  turn  upon 
their  pursuers ;  cf.  the  description  of  the  execution  of  this  strata- 
gem in  v.^""^\  This  is  the  only  construction  which  makes  v.^*'* 
tolerable  in  the  context.  Its  verb  is  generally  translated  as  an 
historical  tense,  And  the  men  of  Israel  turned  about,  which  leaves 
v.^^  without  any  proper  conclusion ;  anticipates  v.^\  where  this 
movement  is  narrated  in  due  order;  and  thus  constrains  the 
interpreters  to  take  the  verb  tm-n  in  v.^^  in  the  opposite  sense 
from  that  which  it  has  in  v.'*^  %  or  to  treat  v.^'-""-  ^  as  a  parenthesis 
in  the  pluperfect.  Now  Beftjamin  had  begun,  to  kill,  a^c.  /  §  —  in  a 
word,  throws  the  whole  context  into  confusion. — The  Benjamites 
began  killing  the  Israelites,  and  slew  some  thirty  men.  — For  they 
thought.  They  are  completely  beaten  before  us,  as  in  the  former 
battle]  cf.  v.^^-  ^-''.  Budde  thinks  that  v.'^'-*  is  an  interpolation 
derived  from  v.^^  |1  It  seems  to  me,  on  the  contrary,  that  v."-*",  at 
least,  is  indispensable  here,  and  that  v.^^  is  copied  from  it ;  but 
the  phraseology  has  either  been  retouched  by  the  author  of  the 
additions,  or  conformed  to  v."^^  by  a  scribe.  The  last  words,  as  in 
the  former  battle,  are  probably  not  original. —40.   The  fire  signal 

*  See  above  on  v.s^a. 

t  It  is  unnecessary  to  depart  from  the  usual  meaning  of  i;'!::  and  render,  the 
agreement  (Be.,  al.) .  t  Ki.,  a),  mu. 

^*i  RV.">g-,  al.     !L  makes  v.30  a  parenthesis.  ||  Richt.  u.  Sam.,  p.  152. 


440  JUDGES 

began  to  rise  from  the  city,  and  when  the  Benjamites  looked 
behind  them,  the  holocaust  of  the  city  was  rising  to  heaven ;  cf. 
Jos.  8^,  and  for  the  phrase,  Dt.  13^^  —  41.  According  to  the 
preconcerted  plan  (v.^-^^"),  the  Israelites  turned  upon  their  foes, 
who  were  thrown  into  a  panic,  for  they  saw  the  disaster  which  had 
overtaken  them;  cf.  v.^*". — 42.  They  turned  to  retreat  in  the 
direction  of  the  wilderness,  hard  pushed  by  the  Israelites.  Lit. 
the  fighting  clung  to  thetn.  The  wilderness  lay  to  the  east  of 
Gibeah,  the  steep  uncultivated  hill-sides  and  ravines  in  which  the 
Highlands  of  Ephraim  break  down  to  the  Jordan  valley;  see 
below  on  v."*' .  —  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  obscure,  and  has  given 
rise  to  a  great  variety  of  diverse  explanations.  A  literal  transla- 
tion is :  "  And  those  who  were  (or  came)  from  the  cities  were 
destroying  him  (Benjamin)  in  the  midst  of  it  (or  him)."  The  last 
pronoun  seems  to  refer  to  tJie  way  (to  the  wilderness)  in  the  first 
clause :  the  people  of  the  towns  along  the  line  of  their  flight  fell 
upon  them  and  slaughtered  the  fugitives  on  the  way.*  This 
interpretation,  which  is  the  only  one  that  the  words  appear  to 
admit,  labours  under  great  difficulties  when  we  try  to  harmonize  it 
with  the  representation  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter.  The  towns 
between  Gibeah  and  the  wilderness  were  all,  in  the  times  respect- 
ing which  we  have  more  definite  information,  Benjamite ;  but 
even  if  we  assume  that  at  this  early  time  they  were  inhabited  by 
Ephraimites,  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  men  of  these  towns 
were  in  the  Israelite  army.f  The  half-verse,  with  v."^^,  is  undoubt- 
edly an  addition  by  the  later  writer;  and  in  all  probability  he 
meant  to  say  that  the  division  which  had  taken  Gibeah  now  issued 
from  the  town  and  intercepted  the  retreating  Benjamites,  |  who 
were  thus  caught  between  two  bodies  of  the  enemy,  just  as  the 
men  of  Ai  were  in  Jos.  8",  which  passage  seems  to  have  suggested 
our  verses.  If  this  conjecture  be  correct,  v.^-^  originally  ran  : 
And  those  from  the  city  were  slaughtering  them  (the  Benjamites) 
in  the  midst,  ix.  between  them  and  the  main  body  of  the  Israel- 
ites.     The   plural,  the  cities,  may  have  arisen  by  accident,   or 

♦  So  substantially  Cler.,  Be.,  Cass,  (with  different  explanations  of  the  pronoun ; 
on  which  point  cf.  also  Ra.,  Ki.).  For  a  very  ingenious  but  impossible  explanation 
of  this  and  the  following  verse,  see  Stud.  f  Schm. 

!  S..  TL.  cf.  T. 


XX.  40-44  441 

through  the  propensity  of  scribes  to  exaggeration.*  —  43.  r'roni 
the  same  hand  as  v.'*-^  The  text  is  corrupt,  probably  in  con- 
sequence of  successive  glosses.  —  Tlicy  encircled  Benjamin~\  cf. 
Ps.  2  2^-.  The  oldest  Greek  translators  read,  they  cut  Benjamin 
to  pieces^  and  this  is  probably  the  original  text ;  see  crit.  note.  — 
There  follow  two  clauses  whose  grammatical  structure  stamps 
them  as  glosses.  The  verb  in  the  first  occurs  nowhere  else  in 
the  O.T.  or  later  Hebrew,  and  the  whole  clause  is  not  improbably 
a  corrupt  variant  of  the  following  words ;  see  crit.  note.  —  The 
last  clause  of  the  verse,  as  far  as  a  point  opposite  GibeaJi  on  the 
east,  must  be  connected  with  the  first  verb  {^tJiey  cut  Benjamin  to 
pieces),  and  marks  the  limit  of  the  pursuit  and  slaughter  ;  but  the 
text  cannot  be  sound.  The  Israelites  certainly  did  not  desist 
from  the  pursuit  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Gibeah,  that  is,  at 
the  very  start.  In  view  of  the  frequent  confusion  of  the  two 
names,  it  may  be  conjectured  that  the  author  wrote  Geba  ;  and  if 
Rimmon  (v.^'*')  be  rightly  identified  with  Rammoh,  the  emenda- 
tion receives  considerable  support  from  the  topography,  f  Geba 
(Geba)  lies  in  the  line  of  flight  from  Gibeah  (Tell  el-Ful)  toward 
Rammon,  and  the  great  Wady  es-Suweinit,  with  its  difficult  pas- 
sage between  Geba'  and  Makhmas,  would  naturally  check  the 
pursuit.  —  44.  The  loss  of  Benjamin  was  eighteen  thousand  men, 
all  valiant  men.  The  last  clause  betrays  its  late  date  by  its  gram- 
matical form ;  but  v.'*^''  seems  to  be  derived  from  the  old  story. 
Its  phraseology  is  different  from  that  of  the  later  writer  in  v.-'-^-^, 
and  the  number  of  the  slain  is  not  the  same.  Verse  '^,  which  adds 
to  the  number  first  five  thousand  and  then  two  thousand,  thus 
bringing  the  total  up  to  twenty-five  thousand,  as  in  v.*',  has  the 
appearance  of  a  harmonistic  artifice,  and  is  much  more  naturally 
explained  if  the  eighteen  thousand  of  v.'*^  belonged  to  the  original 
data. 

36.  3nsn  Sn  intaa]  Jer.  7*  Ps.  4^  31'^;  more  frequently  construed  with  3. — 
37.  Vw'^nn]  'direct  causative  Hiphil,'  Ko.,  i.,  p.  507.  Cf.  Kal  Is.  S^-^;  Iliph. 
Is.  5I9  (2816  is  doubtful).  —  Sn  i£2'>:'dm]  ^^-  ^  (*-;•).  —  ^isn  i^-c^i]  4''  (p.  1 18).  — 
:y-\r\  ^f)*?]  without  quarter;  see  on  i^s.  —  38.  3-\n]  some  codd.  (De  Rossi) 
ann;  so  ©apslo  g  (^^xatpa,  cf.  also  i)\  probably  t^s  m^X^s  C^^')  has  the 
same  origin :  vm  omit  the  word,  as  do  3L,S.     a:^:^  would  be  imv.  Hiph.  of  nai; 

*  See  crit.  note.  t  See  on  v.^?. 


442  JUDGES 


to  construe  this  with  the  following  inf.  it  would  be  necessary  to  strike  out  the 
suffix  of  ap^;n  (Stud.);  r^i^>n'-  2-^n,  lit.  multiply  to  send  tip  (cf.  i  S.  i^^  &c.), 
mi« 


light  perhaps  be  understood,  send  up  a  great  deal  of  smoke;  so  %,  Ra., 
Vatab.,  Schm.,  Cler.,  JHMich.,  Ke.  2",  Stud,  i^.  — Cassel  defends  the  text  by 
the  analogy  of  ^jd^d  n^nn  Ps.  51*  (Qere  nnn),  but  the  construction  there  is 
different.  Apart  from  the  grammatical  difficulty,  the  introduction  of  this  imv. 
in  the  midst  of  the  narration  is  highly  unnatural.  Hitzig  on  Ps.  51^  gives  to 
2nn  here  the  (Arabic)  sense  '  ffight';  so  Ew.,  GVI.  ii.  p.  498  n.  But  Flight!  is 
as  unsuitable  as  Sword  I  It  is  probable  that  ^-^n  is  an  accidental  mutilated 
repetition  of  :3-\Nnj  *  ann  a  correction  meant  to  make  at  least  the  word  intelli- 
gible.  r">^  DNiT'o]   Bu.  emends,  p7;    but  if  the  verse  is  construed  as  I 

propose,  this  is  not  necessary.  —  39.  Vnt^^  tr^N  ion>i]  the  finite  verb  con- 
tinues the  infinitive  construction  in  v.^^.  cf.  (with  change  of  subject,  as  here) 
Gen.  18-^  Ex.  if^  2  S.  I3-^  Dr^.  §  118.  These  examples  show  that  we  should 
emend  io^^  consec.  perf.  The  imperf.  consec.  is  due  to  misinterpretation 
under  the  ^influence  of  v.^ia.  This  compelled  the  interpreters  to  take  ^sn  here 
in  the  sense,  turned  their  backs ;  in  v.^i  in  the  sense,  turned  their  faces,  con- 
fronted (Ki.,  al.  mu.).  —  o^V'^n  nonS]  the  D'''?'?n  prob.  came  from  v.^i;  in  old 
prose  we  should  have  simply  '?Ni!i'"'3  niDnS.  —  rjijj]  inf.  abs.  Niph.  before  a 
perf.;  see  on  ii-^  p.  297  f.  — nrj'N-\n  nnnScD]  Ges.^^  §  118,  db.  —  40.  nN'fp] 
v.^"^  Jer.  61;  cf.  nNii'^  Is.  302",  and  MH.  nxirr,  nxDc,  Levy,  NHWb.  iii.  p.  266, 
'  fire  signal,  torch ';  the  construction  and  use  of  which  is  described  in  M.  Rosh 
ha-shanah,  1'2)^.  (gSLMal.  -^ell  irvpab^;  f  cf.  Hdt.  vii.  182.  —  |-J7  tidv]  explan- 
atory apposition  to  nxtr'cn.  —  n'-^'n  S-'So]  Dt.  131^  (the  city  which  seduces  to 
apostasy  is  to  be  burned  nin>S  S^Sd);  cf.  i  S.  f  Ps.  5121,  and  '^Vd  in  Phoeni- 
cian (C/5.i.  1653.5.7.9.11  1675).!— 41.  "iD.-i]  turned  on  their  pursuers,  Jos.  820. 

—  '^n^MJ  -were  in  consternation,  dismay ;   Ex.  i^"^^  I  S.  2821  2  S.  4I  Jer.  51^2^ 

—  42.  13173  iniN  D'«n"«na'D  Dn>'nD  iu'Ni]  Jerome,  with  sound  exegetical  tact, 
gives  what  the  context  requires :  sed  et  hi  qui  urbem  succenderant,  occurre- 
runt  eis.  (@P^  ol  kv  ry  irdXeL  (diro  ttjs  TroXecos).  ®  also  understands  the 
division  which  had  been  placed  in  ambush;  so  Ra.,  Ki.  No  explanation  of 
the  text  is  possible;  we  must  emend:  "iina  i.iix  Dv-r-nm  n^vnc  icxi.  For  the 
last  word  compare  Jos.  8^2;  n>-\j,'  may  have  arisen  by  dittography.  —  43.  Tiri^] 
in  Ps.  22^3  the  verb  is  parallel  to  3DD;  §  for  the  figure  cf.  also  i  S.  23^6,  o^-^pj: 
(ya),  where  Klosterm.  would  read  2^"J?.  In  the  sense  surround  the  word  is 
understood  here  by  Ra.,  Ki.,  and  most.  Abulw.,  Tanch.,  give  it  the  meaning, 
gave  no  respite,  as  in  Job  36^,  and  in  Aram,  and  Syr.,  but  their  interpreta- 
tion is  not  acceptable.  ||  (S  Kar^KowTov,  Kar^Koxf/av,  cKoxpav,  read  irno  or  inir, 
from  which  |Q  could  easily  arise.  The  last  clause  of  the  verse,  which  could 
hardly  be  connected  with  iinr,  supports  the  reading  of  ©.  —  nnuD  -inDn-^n] 

*  Be.,  Bu.  t  ®-^  by  transcriptional  error  Trvpyos. 

X  See,  however,  Bloch,  Phoen.  Glossar,  p.  35. 

1}  Hiph.  Hab.  i^  is  questionable. 

II  Sec  the  long  explanation  of  Abulw.,  Lex.  336. 


XX.  45  443 

the  causative  stem  of  q-n  is  found  nowhere  else  either  in  the  O.T.,  MIL  or 
Aram.,  nor  is  it  easy  to  imagine  what  force  it  could  have;  *  the  difficulty  is 
increased  by  the  noun,  on  which  see  below.  —  inr-nn]  in  O.T.  y^^^n  is  usually 
'cause  one  to  tread  a  path,  guide  him  in  a  way';  in  the  sense  'trample' 
(grapes,  Am.  9^^  j^]^  ^jt.  olives,  Mi.  6^^;  trop.,  enemies,  Is.  6f)  we  find 
only  Kal.  In  Jer.  51=^2  t^g  Hiph.  is  prob.  like  Aphel  in  Targums,  •  let  (cattle) 
tread,  thresh';  Job  28^  generally  rendered  /rt'at/,  is  perhaps  reach,  attain,  as 
in  the  Talmud  {Abodah  zarah,  \^  =  KetJmbim,  60''),  Syr.,  Arab.  In  the  last 
sense  the  verb  is  taken  here  by  Ra.,  Ges.  Thes.^  MV.;  they  overtook  them. 
The  asyndetic  perfects  show  that  neither  insnnn  nor  ina-'n-in  is  part  of  the 
original  text.  It  is  not  a  remote  conjecture  that  the  former  is  merely  a 
corruption  of  the  latter  (obs.  the  close  resemblance  of  the  letters,  and  the 
spelling  of  both).  —  nmjo]  'resting  place'  (Nu.  lo-^'^),  peaceful,  unmolested 
abode  (Dt.  12^  &c.)  seems  quite  out  of  place  in  this  context,  whether  we 
interpret  at,  to,  or  from  (their)  resting  place;  and  the  construction  is  as  hard, 
or  rather  as  impossible,  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  If  the  word  is 
correctly  transmitted,  it  must  be  a  proper  noun;  it  would  then  be  better 
to  take  it,  not  as  accus.  of  limit  (to  Menuah,  Lth.,  Merc,  Stud.),  but  as 
terminus  a  quo  (nmjo),  with  (gBNai.  (£7^6  Noua.  In  I  Chr.  8^  nn^j  f  appears 
as  a  son  of  Benjamin  (Benj.  clan),  and  it  is  thus  possible  that  nn'^js  may  be 
sound.  Others  would  take  nnuo  adverbially,  quietly,  or  easily  ;  so  S,  Tremell., 
Pise,  Winer,  al.,  without  warrant  in  usage.  J  In  view  of  the  state  in  which 
the  middle  of  the  verse  is,  it  is  impossible  to  have  any  confidence  in  the  text. 

—  On  the  confusion  of  .1^22  and  ygj,  see  v.'^^  and  above,  p.  414. — 44.  ^d  tn 
^■•n  •'"J'JN  n^x]  so  also  in  v.'*'^.  The  use  of  .■^n  before  a  nominative  belongs  to 
the  later  language,  in  which  it  is  employed  to  give  prominence  to  a  noun, 
without  regard  to  its  syntax;   Ges.-^  p.  351  f. 

45-48.  A  remnant  of  the  Benjamite  warriors  escape ;  their 
towns  are  burned  and  the  inhabitants  slaughtered.  —  Verses  ^''  *' 
seem  to  be  harmonistic  additions,  to  bring  the  eighteen  thousand 
of  v.^  up  to  the  round  twenty-five  thousand  of  the  later  writer ; 
v."*^  is  from  the  old  story,  which  may  have  gone  on  to  narrate  the 
destruction  of  the  Benjamite  towns  and  massacre  of  their  popula- 
tion. Something  of  this  sort  seems  to  be  presupposed  in  2i'*'^-, 
but  v.^^  in  its  present  form  is  undoubtedly  late. — 45.  The  Benja- 
mites  turned  and  fled  to  the  wilderness,  to  the  rock  Rimmon. 
The  beginning  of  the  verse  is  verbally  identical  with  that  of  v.^'. 

—  And  they  made  a  gleaning  of  thon  on  the  roads,  five  thousand 
men~\   with  the  figure  cf  8".  —  And  they  pursued  them  closely  as 

*  Call  to  one  another  to  pursue  (Ra.,  Ki.),  will  not  do. 
t  ©^  Itoa.  X  See  against  this  theory,  Stud. 


444  JUDGES 

far  as  Gidom{?),  and  killed  tiuo  thousand  of  theni\  of  Gidom 
nothing  else  is  known ;  one  recension  of  ^  has  Gibeah  (or 
Geba).*  —  46.  The  whole  number  of  Benjamites  who  fell  on 
that  day  was  twenty-five  thousand  fighting  men:  18,000  (v.**) 
+  5000+2000  (v."*"')  =  25,000;  cf.  v.^>  and  see  on  v.^^. —  On 
that  day  ;  all  these  were  valiant  warriors']  the  words  on  that  day 
stand  in  a  very  awkward  place,  and,  with  the  following  clause, 
may  be  a  scribe's  gloss.f  — 47.  From  the  older  narrative.  —  They 
turned  a?id  fled  to  the  wilderness,  to  the  rock  of  Rimmon,  six 
hundred  mefi']  all  who  escaped  from  the  signal  disaster  that  had 
overtaken  the  tribe.  In  its  original  connexion  the  verse  probably 
followed  closely  upon  v.''-%  perhaps  only  v.'"'',  or  the  substance  of 
it,  intervening.  Rinwwn  was  in  the  time  of  Eusebius  a  village 
fifteen  Roman  miles  from  Jerusalem,  in  a  northerly  direction.  % 
It  was  discovered  by  Robinson  in  Rammon,  §  somewhat  over 
three  miles  east  of  Beitin  (Bethel),  and  a  less  distance  (forty 
minutes)  south  of  et-Taiyibeh,  on  a  high  and  rocky  hill.  This 
would  lie  in  a  corner  of  the  territory  of  Benjamin,  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Beth-aven  (Jos.  18^-).  ||  — 48.  The  IsraeHtes  returned  from 
the  pursuit  and  destroyed  the  Benjamite  towns  with  all  that  was  in 
them.  —  To  the  Benjamites]  those  who  had  not  taken  the  field, 
se7ies  impuberes  mulieres  atque  iinbelles.%  They  massacred  them 
all.  —  Man  and  beast  and  eve fy thing  that  was  there]  as  in  the 
case  of  a  city  devoted  to  destruction  (the  herein),  Dt.  2"^  3*^ 
Jos.  6'^^-  Dt.  13^^*^'.  —  All  the  towns  that  thej-e  were,  they  committed 
to  the  flames]  i^;  see  note  there  (p.  21). 

45.  i^'l'^^V'^i]  cf.  Jer.  6^;  the  use  of  the  trope  in  simple  narration  is  striking. 
—  D>";j  ny]  (gN  Ta/Saa  Va^o.  (236) ;  APVSLM  j  PaXaaS.  ^  Gibeon,  which  is  not 
in  the  direction  of  this  retreat.  —  48.  dpd  -|ij?p]  so  the  Massora  (on  Ps.  38"^); 
cf.  Norzi.  In  Dt.  2**  -f  Job  24I2,  however,  we  find  dhd  •T'>',  town  of  men, 
male  population,  as  many  codd.  and  some  old  edd.  read  here  (De  Rossi). 
This  is  doulitlcss  the  writer's  meaning;  **  Dnr,  entire,  gives  no  sense. ff  The 
phrase  is  borrowed  from  Dt.;   the  conj.  mxD  (Buhl)  is  unnecessary. 


♦  The  word  may  perhaps  be  read  as  an  infinitive,  till  they  cut  them  off;  cf.  216. 

t  A  literal  translation  of  the  verse  is  :  And  all  who  fell  of  Benjamin  were  ttuenty- 
fve  thousand  men  drawing  sword,  on  that  day  ;  all  these  were  men  of  valour. 

t  OS-i.  287i«.  §  BI^.  i.  p.  440 ;   iii.  p.  290. 

II  Sec  Rob,,  I.e. ;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  i.  p.  215  ;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii.  p.  292  f. ;  Riid^., 
p.121.         H  jIIMicli.        **Stud.;  cf.JHMich.        "H- Cf.  S  Dt.  234  3G  ;  cf.  JH^a'"- ib. 


XX.  45-XXT-  1  445 

XXI.  1-14.  To  provide  the  surviving  Benjamites  with  wives, 
Jabesh  in  Gilead  is  destroyed.  —  As  soon  as  the  Ismclitcs  have 
leisure  from  their  bloody  work  to  contemplate  its  results,  they  are 
greatly  afflicted  by  the  prospect  that  Benjamin  will  disappear  alto- 
gether from  among  the  tribes  of  Israel  (v.-**"").  All  the  women  of 
the  tribe  have  been  slaughtered,  and  the  rest  of  the  Israelites 
have  sworn  a  great  oath  not  to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  to 
Benjamites  (v.^-^);  the  six  hundred  survivors  must  therefore  die 
childless  and  the  tribe  become  extinct.  In  this  perplexity  they 
hit  upon  a  plan  which  promises  to  accomplish  a  double  purpose. 
Of  all  Israel,  Jabesh  in  Gilead  alone  had  not  sent  its  contingent 
to  the  war.  Twelve  thousand  men  are  therefore  sent  thither,  with 
orders  to  exterminate  the  whole  population  of  Jabesh,  sparing 
only  the  virgin  girls.  In  this  way  four  hundred  of  the  Benjamites 
are  furnished  with  wives  (v.^"^"*,  cf.  v.^). 

The  story  shows  in  every  trait  the  hand  of  the  post-exilic  author, 
and  is  plainly  patterned  after  Nu.  31,  in  a  tertiary  stratum  of  P. 
The  numerous  repetitions  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  bungling  of 
the  author,  in  part  to  glosses  by  still  later  hands.*  —  1.  Now  the 
Israelites  had  sworn  at  Mizpah,  No  one  of  us  will  give  his  daughter 
in  marriage  to  Benjamin']  vJ-  ^^  cf.  ".  This  oath,  upon  which  the 
story  of  the  rape  of  the  Shilonites  as  well  as  the  expedition  to 
Jabesh  of  Gilead  turns,  had  a  place  in  the  older  narrative,  and  not 
impossibly  v.^  is  derived  from  this  source.f  —  2.  The  people  came 
to  Bethel]  whither  in  the  later  form  of  the  story  the  Israelites 
resort  to  humble  themselves  before  God  and  consult  the  oracle 
^2oi8-i^3.26^^  —  j^ji^  ^^f  fji(,j^^  until  evening  before  God,  and  lifted 
up  their  voice  and  wept  immoderately]  lit.  a  great  iveeping,  2  S.  \i^ 
Is.  38^  cf.  Jud.  2o2''-«,  also  2^  Nu.  25^'  Joel  i'^^  — 3.  They  com- 
plain of  Yahweh's  mysterious  providence  —  Why,  O  Yahzveh,  God 
of  Israel,  has  this  happened  in  Israel,  that  one  tribe  is  missing 
to-day  from  Israel]  cf.  v.^^  in  the  older  story,  from  which  v.''  also 
is  derived.  —  4.  On  the  following  day  they  built  an  altar  and 
offered  sacrifices.     The  building  of  an  altar  at  Bethel,  an  ancient 


*  Bohme  {ZA  TW.  v.  p.  30-36)  would  distinguish  three  sources :  A  v.6-i<,  B  v.i-5, 
C  v.15-23.  Of  these  B  is  an  amplification  of  A ;  C  a  contradictory  representation, 
which  none  the  less  is  later  than  A  and  dependent  upon  it.  Budde  regards 
v.6-8.  n.  12*  as  editorial  glosses  in  the  younger  narrative  ;  scr  ahovr,  p.  407.        t  Bu. 


446  JUDGES 

holy  place,  is  singular ;  all  the  more  since  in  20^'''  they  have  already 
offered  sacrifices  there.  The  verse,  as  well  as  v.^,  is  perhaps  a 
gloss,  introduced  by  a  scribe  or  editor  whose  mind  was  filled  with 
reminiscences  of  the  old  literature;  cf.,  e.g.,  2  S.  24^.  —  5.  They 
inquire  who  from  among  all  the  tribes  had  failed  to  respond  to  the 
summons ;  for  they  had  sworn  that  any  who  did  not  appear  at  the 
rendezvous  at  Mizpah  should  be  put  to  death.  The  first  half-verse 
anticipates  v.^" ;  v.''-  ^  interrupt  the  natural  connexion  of  v.^  with 
v.^ ;  the  style  of  v.^  is  unusually  awkward  and  incorrect.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  both  verses  were  inserted  by  an  editor.  —  Who  is  there 
that  did  not  co7ne  up  in  the  asseinbly\  20^ ;  cf.  2 1^.  —  For  the  great 
curse  had  been  pronounced  upon  every  one  who  did  not  go  up']  cf. 
I  S.  14^'*- -^•^.  Not,  they  had  made  a  great  oath  concerning  him 
that  came  not  up,  6r^<:.,*  which  would  be  quite  differently  expressed- 
in  Hebrew.  —  Na??iely,  that  he  should  unfailingly  be  put  to  death] 
cf.  I  S.  i4'^''^-".  —  6.  They  were  sorry  for  Benjamin;  v.^^,  on  which 
v.^  as  well  as  v.^  is  dependent.  —  Their  brother]  20^-^.  —  And 
they  said,  One  tribe  is  cut  off  from  Israel]  cf.  v.^-  ^^.  The  figure  is 
taken  from  a  tree  which  is  mutilated  by  lopping  ofi"  one  of  its 
branches  ;  cf.  Is.  10^^  i^l  — 7.  What  shall  we  do  for  the?n,  for 
the  survivors,  for  wives  ?]  for  the  survivors  has  probably  been 
introduced,  for  greater  expUcitness,  from  v.^^  —  Seeing  that  we 
have  sworn  by  Yahweh  not  to  give  them  any  of  our  daughters  in 
marriage]  v}-  ^^,  cf.  v."^.  —  8.  They  inquire  who,  of  all  the  tribes 
of  Israel,  had  not  come  up  to  the  gathering  of  the  clans  at  Mizpah  ; 
cf.  v.''.  —  Now  not  a  man  had  come  to  the  ca^np  front  Jabesh  in 
Gilead,  to  the  assembly]  the  last  words  (v.^  20-)  may  have  been 
added  by  a  scribe  to  whom  camp  did  not  sound  sufficiently  eccle- 
siastical. The  entire  half-verse  is,  strictly  speaking,  superfluous 
beside  v.^,  but  such  circumstantiahty  is  the  delight  of  late  writers. 
—  9.  A  muster  of  the  tribes  disclosed  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
one  present  from  Jabesh.  —Jabesh  in  Gilead]  the  only  historical 
mention  of  the  place  in  the  O.T.  is  in  the  history  of  Saul  (i  S.  11 
31"-^^  2  S.  2^^-  2i^-'*"-).  From  these  passages  we  learn  only  that  it 
was  within  a  day's  journey  of  Beth-shean.  The  notices  in  Jose- 
phus  do  not  fix  the  site  more  exactly.f     Eusebius  tells  us  that  in 

•  AV.,  RV.,  al.  t  AnU.  v.  2,  11  §  164 ;  vi.  5,  i  §  71 ;   14,  8  ^  375. 


XXI.    4-12 


447 


his  time  it  was  a  village  on  high  ground,  six  miles  from  Pella  on 
the  way  to  Gerasa.*  The  name  survives  in  Wady  Yabis,t  which 
opens  into  the  Jordan  valley  about  ten  miles  SSE.  of  Beisan,  and 
nearly  opposite  Ibzlq  (Bezek),  where  Saul  mustered  the  tribesmen 
for  the  rehef  of  Jabesh  ( i  S.  1 1^) .  +  Robinson  suggested  the  ruins, 
ed-Deir,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Wady  about  three  hours  from 
the  Jordan,  §  and  has  been  followed  by  most  recent  writers. 
Merrill  proposes  Miryamin,  on  the  road  from  Pella  (Tabaqat 
Fahl)  to  Gerash,  an  hour  and  forty  minutes  from  the  former 
place.  II 

10-14.  The  expedition  against  Jabesh.  — 10.  The  congrega- 
tion (20^)  sends  thither  twelve  thousand  men,  with  orders  to  mas- 
sacre the  whole  population  of  the  city,  men,  women,  and  children.^ 
— 11.  More  explicit  instructions.  —  Every  male,  afid  every  wofnan 
that  has  lain  with  a  male,  shall  ye  exter7ninate~\  Nu.  31^^ ;  the  unu- 
sual phrases  prove  that  the  author  took  Nu.  31  as  his  pattern ;  ** 
see  note.  It  is  evidence  of  the  bungling  character  of  his  imitation, 
that  the  writer  omits  the  very  necessary  injunction  to  preserve 
alive  the  virgins  (v.^^  Nu.  31^^). ft  — 12.  They  found  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Jabesh,  four  hundred  virgin  girls,  who  had  not 
known  a  man  carnally  (Nu.  31^ +j),  and  brought  them  to  the 
camp.  —  To  Shiloh,  which  is  in  the  land  of  Canaan']  just  so  in 
Jos.  21^  22^;  in  the  latter  passage,  as  here,  perhaps  in  contrast  to 
Israelite  territory  east  of  the  Jordan.  It  is  none  the  less  remark- 
able that  the  writer  should  deem  it  necessary  to  define  in  this  way 
the  situation  of  the  famous  sanctuary ;  see  v.^^,  where  we  find  a 
minute  topographical  note.  It  is  hard  to  say  whether  this  explic- 
itness  is  merely  the  archaeological  style  of  a  late  author,  §§  or  an 
indication  that  he  wrote  for  readers  in  foreign  lands,  perhaps  him- 


*  C52.  26881. 

t  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  name  Jabesh  also  ('  dry ')  belonged  originally  to 
the  Wady,  and  was  afterwards  given  to  the  town  on  its  banks.        J  See  on  i^,  p.  i6. 
§  BJ^.  iii.  p.  319  f.     On  the  site  see  also  Tristram,  Land  of  Israel,  p.  556. 
II  Amer.  Palest.  Explor.  Soc.,  Fourth  Statement  (1877),  p.  80-82. 
U  Cf.  Nu.  3i4f-.  **  See  above,  p.  445. 

ft  It  is  found,  however,  in  most  copies  of  ©. 

XX  Thirty-two  thousand  Midianite  maidens!     How  they  were  able  to  recognize 
the  virgins,  see  Jebamoth,  60^  ;   Pfeiffer,  Dubia  vexata,  p.  358  f.  ^  We. 


448  JUDGES 

self  lived  in  exile.*  Why  the  expedition  against  Jabesh  finds  the 
main  army  at  Shiloh  instead  of  Bethel  (v.-),  we  do  not  learn  ;  most 
likely  the  writer  is  already  shifting  the  scene  to  prepare  for  the 
story  of  the  seizure  of  the  maidens  of  Shiloh  (v.^^^),  though  that 
story  is  in  reality  quite  incompatible  with  the  presence  of  the 
Israelite  encampment  at  Shiloh.  — 13.  The  congregation  sends 
friendly  overtures  to  the  surviving  Benjamites  in  their  fastness 
at  Rimmon.  — 14.  The  latter  return,  and  are  presented  with  the 
women  who  were  saved  alive  from  the  sack  of  Jabesh.  —  And  they 
did  not  suffice  for  them  j^]  there  were  still  two  hundred  lacking. 
Thus  the  way  is  prepared  for  the  introduction  of  the  old  story  of 
the  rape  of  the  Shilonite  maidens  as  supplementary  to  the  capture 
of  maidens  at  Jabesh. 

2.  Vnj  -"D^  133^1]  absolute  object  qualified  by  an  adjective;  Ges.^^  §  117, 
2  n.  a;  A.  Miiller,  Gram.,  §410.  —  3.  '?Nni:'"i  \n^N  mn>]  see  on  4^,  p.  115. — 
4.  cdSitm  m*?;']  see  on  20^6.  —  5.  nSnjn  n>'i3cn]  they  had  made  a  great  oath 
( AV.)  would  be  in  Hebrew :  anS  nptn  rh^M  n3;iJB'  '>a.  For  n;n3ti'  equivalent 
to  nSs  'curse,'  see  Neh.  lo^o  Nu.  5^1.  —  nm>  ma]  frequent  formula  for  the 
death  penalty  in  the  laws,  e.g.  Ex.  19I2  2ii2.i5;  in  P,  Ex.  31I4.15  Nu.  15^5  35IO 
&c.,  Lev.  2o2  24^6- 17.  —  8.  nnx  ic]  zvhat  single  one.  —  10.  Sinn  >j3d]  cf.  Dt.  3^^ 
2  S.  2'  1328  &c.  —  lioni  D^tt'jni]  Dt.  2^^  f  Jos.  S^s.  — 11.  id;  3D!2'D  nyni  ncx] 
midier  experta  concubitum  maris,  y}^;  the  phrase  is  found  only  in  Nu.  '^i^'^- 
18-35.  cf.  Lev.  i822  2oi3  Ez.  23i".t  — ir^nnn]  see  on  ii",  p.  35,  36.  — 12.  nW] 
cf.  'iSra  v.i^,  iS"'E'  v.^ibis.  besides  these  variations  we  find  n^iir  Gen.  49^^^ 
See  Norzi  on  Gen.  49IO  Jud.  2\^'^;  Frensdorff,  Massoret.  Worierbuch,  p.  322  f. 
(n.  4).  — 14.  p  D.-iS  iNi-::  nSi]  nxd  'suffice,'  Nu.  ii^^,  Jos.  17I6  Zech.  \q>^ 
(Niph.).  We  might  also  render  here:  They  (the  Israelites)  did  not  find 
enough  for  them. 

15-25.  The  rape  of  the  Shilonites. — The  IsraeHtes  are  at  a 
loss  to  know  how  to  provide  wives  for  the  remaining  Benjamites. 
They  advise  them  to  conceal  themselves  in  the  vineyards  around 
Shiloh  at  the  time  of  the  annual  feast  of  Yahweh,  and  surprise  and 
carry  off  the  girls  who  come  out  to  take  part  in  the  dances ;  and 
promise  to  pacify  the  kinsmen  of  the  maidens,  if  they  are  minded 
to  avenge  the  rape.  The  plan  is  carried  out ;  the  Benjamites  seize 
a  wife  apiece,  go  back  to  their  own  district,  and  rebuild  their 


♦  Stud. 

t  In  Nu.  31I7  Jud.  21I2  in  the  still  more  circumstantial  form,  puellae  virgines 
quae  virutn  nan  cognoverant  in  concubitu  maris. 


XXI.  12-17  449 

towns.  The  Israelites  return  to  their  homes.  —  The  story  comes 
from  the  older  source,  but  has  been  somewhat  extensively  glossed 
by  the  later  writer;  v."',  the  topographical  notes  in  v.^",  v.-''  (at 
least  in  part),  are  of  this  origin.  The  text  has  suffered  consider- 
ably in  v.^"''  and  v.-l  — 15.  The  people  was  so7'ry  for  Benjiwiin^ 
because  Yahiveh  had  brought  a  catastrophe  tipon  the  tribes  of 
Israel~\  v.^-^';  with  the  last  clause  (lit.  jnade  a  breach  in),  cf 
2  S.  6^  5"^  Ex.  1922-24.  The  destruction  of  a  tribe  was  not  an  issue 
to  be  contemplated  with  indifference.  If  the  extinction  of  a 
fiimily  or  a  clan  was  a  matter  of  serious  concern,  to  prevent  which 
every  precaution  was  taken,  much  more  that  of  a  tribe.  And  for 
the  same  reason  :  it  involved  the  cessation  of  the  cults  which  were 
its  bond  of  union,  and  that  might  well  be  fraught  with  malign 
consequences.  The  feeling  and  action  of  the  Israelites  here  are 
entirely  in  the  spirit  of  a  primitive  time,  and  by  no  means  indi- 
cate that  the  story  was  invented  at  a  late  period.*  — 16.  The 
first  half-verse,  at  least,  is  the  work  of  the  younger  author,  who 
thus  attaches  the  old  story  of  the  rape  of  the  Shilonite  maidens  to 
his  account  of  the  destruction  of  Jabesh.f  —  The  ehiers  of  the 
congregatioii]  Lev.  4^^  —  What  shall  ive  do  for  those  that  are  left, 
for  wives  ?~\  the  two  hundred  who  did  not  get  wives  of  the  girls 
brought  from  Jabesh.  —  For  women  had  been  exterminated  from 
Benjamin']  cf.  20^*^  Budde  thinks  that  this  half  of  the  verse  also 
is  by  the  later  hand.  It  seems  to  me  to  have  its  proper  place  in 
the  original  narrative  between  v.^^  and  v.^'^-.  The  cause  of  the 
Israehtes'  regret  in  this  version  also  was  the  apprehension  that  the 
survivors  would  have  no  posterity,  and  the  tribe  thus  die  out ;  it 
must  therefore  have  contained  a  statement  substantially  equivalent 
to  v.^'^''.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  younger  context  the  statement 
is,  to  say  the  least,  superfluous  after  20'*^  2i'-^-".  — 17.  The  first 
clause  is  generally  explained :  The  survivors  of  Benjamin  must 
remain  in  possession  of  the   hereditary  lands  of  the  tribe ;    the 


*  This  natural  motive  is  no  longer  understood  by  the  author  of  v.3,  to  whom  the 
cause  of  grief  appears  to  be  that  one  tribe  is  lacking  of  the  sacred  number  twelve. 

t  It  would  be  possible  to  regard  the  verse,  with  the  exception  of  the  words,  the 
elders  of  the  coiigregation ,  as  part  of  the  original  narrative ;    those  that  were  left 
would  then  be  the  survivors  of  the  battle.     But  this  is  superfluous  before  v.!?,  and 
the  language  is  not  favourable  to  the  supposition. 
2G 


450  JUDGES 

victors  renounce  their  right  to  divide  the  conquered  territory 
among  themselves.*  But  this,  although  in  itself  a  sufficiently 
good  sense,  is  wide  of  the  text,  and  not  in  accord  with  the  con- 
text, in  which  the  question  is,  not  what  shall  be  done  with  the 
lands  of  the  Benjamites,  but  how  they  shall  be  supplied  with 
wives-t  The  text  is  palpably  corrupt;  from  the  structure  of 
y_i7b.i8a^  the  premises  in  v.^^•^^^  and  the  sequel  v.^^  we  may  conjec- 
ture that  the  verse  originally  contained  a  question  :  Hoxv  shall  a 
remnant  be  saved  for  Be?jja?}iin,  and  not  a  tribe  be  wiped  out  of 
Israel?  %  This  would  connect  well  with  \}\  and  with  v.^%  Seeing 
that  we  cannot  give  thejn  wives  of  our  daughters. —  Wiped  outj 
made  to  disappear  utterly  ;  2  K.  21^^  Gen.  6^  f^  &c.  — 18.  Seeijig 
that  we  cannot  give  them  wives  of  our  daughters'^  circumstantial, 
closely  connected  with  the  preceding.  —  For  the  Israelites  had . 
sworn,  Cursed  is  he  who  gives  a  wife  to  Benjamin']  y}.  This 
interdict  of  the  connubium  with  Benjamin  is  the  point  on  which 
the  story  in  ch.  2 1  turns,  equally  in  the  original  and  the  secondary 
version.  It  was  natural  enough  that  fathers  who  heard  the  tale  of 
the  Gibeathites'  brutality  should  refuse  to  give  their  daughters  to 
men  of  their  tribe.  If  v.^  is  derived  from  the  older  source,  we 
should  probably  regard  v.^^''  as  an  editorial  repetition,  made  the 
more  necessary  that,  in  consequence  of  the  insertion  of  v.-"^^,  v.^ 
was  now  somewhat  remote. 

19-22.  A  way  discovered  to  evade  their  oath.  — 19.  They 
cannot  recall  their  oath  and  dare  not  break  it,  but  there  is  a  way  in 
which  it  may  be  evaded ;  the  Benjamites  must  take  their  wives  by 
force.  —  The  feast  of  Yahweh  is  held  at  Shiloh  annually^  this  feast, 
with  its  dances  among  the  vineyards,  was  doubtless,  like  that  at 
Shechem  (9^),  a  local  vintage  festival.  Budde  takes  these  words  as 
addressed  to  the  Benjamites,  and  supposes  that  they  were  immedi- 
ately followed  by  v.^''.  This  is  probably  the  original  intention  of 
the  author.  —  Shiloh  is  the  modern  Seilun,  whose  situation  is  mi- 


•SoKi.,Lfh.,  AV.,  RV. 

t  That,  in  order  to  maintain  their  possession  of  the  lands,  they  had  to  have  wives 
and  children  (Ra.,  al.),  is  true  enough,  but  too  remote  a  reflexion  here. 

X  So  the  verse  is  understood  by  the  authors  of  one  recension  of  <B  ;  see  crit. 
note. 


XXL  17-22  451 

nutely  described  in  the  following  topographical  gloss.*  —  Which  is 
north  of  Bethel,  east  of  the  road  which  leads  from  Bethel  to  Shechem, 
and  south  of  Lel?onah~\  Lebonah  is  the  modern  el-Lubban,  about  an 
hour  NW.  of  Seilun.t  On  Bethel  (Beitin)  see  on  i-"^ ;  on  Shechem, 
see  on  9^  Shiloh  early  lost  its  importance  as  a  religious  centre ;  \ 
it  lay  somewhat  off  the  main  road,  and  after  the  exile  may  have  been 
so  little  known  as  to  make  such  glosses  necessary ;  see  also  above, 
on  v.^2.  —  20.  They  bid  the  Benjamites  lie  in  wait  in  the  vine- 
yards. In  the  original  form  of  the  story  v.^''^  probably  followed 
v.^^%  which  was  addressed  to  the  Benjamites ;  the  insertion  of 
v.^^  was  necessitated  by  the  introduction  of  the  glosses  in  v.^^*' ; 
see  on  v.^^**.  —  21.  When  the  girls  of  Shiloh  come  out  to  dance  in 
the  choruses^  such  dances  in  celebration  of  victory  (11^  Ex.  15-*' 
I  S.  18^),  or  at  religious  festivities  (Ex.  32^^;   cf.  also  Cant.  6^^).§ 

—  Then  come  out  of  the  vineyards,  and  seize  you  each  his  7voman 
of  the  daughters  of  Shiloh,  and  be  off  to  the  land  of  Benjamin'] 
compare  the  rape  of  the  Sabine  maidens  by  the  Romans.  ||  The 
borders  of  the  Benjamite  territory  may  have  been  two  hours  away. 

—  22.  The  Israelites  promise  their  friendly  intervention,  if  the 
kinsmen  of  the  maidens  threaten  vengeance.  —  The  offer  of  their 
good  offices  would  be  entirely  in  keeping  with  the  character  of 
the  original  narrative ;  but  the  verse  abounds  in  grammatical 
faults  which  cannot  all  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  scribes,  and  it  is, 
on  the  whole,  more  probable  that  it  is  an  addition  by  the  later 
writer.  The  text  is  unusually  corrupt.  —  If  their  fathers  or  broth- 
ers come  to  complain  to  71s,  we  will  say.  Grant  them  to  thef?i]  the 
stolen  maidens  to  their  captors.  J^  has.  Grant  us  them ;  that  is 
apparently,  as  a  favour  to  us,  allow  the  Benjamites  to  keep  their 
captives.l[     The  next  clause  is  literally,  For  we  did  not  take  each 

*  Rob.,  BjR^.  ii.  p.  269-271 ;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  ii,  p.  21-27;  SWP.  Memoirs,  ii. 
p.  367-369 ;  Bad3.,  p.  217.  It  was  correctly  identified  by  Brocardus,  Eshtori  Parchi, 
fol.  68a  ;  as  earlier  by  Moslem  geographers  ;  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the  Mos- 
lems, p.  477,  527. 

t  Rob.,  BR^.  ii.  p.  271  f. ;  Gu6rin,  Samarie,  ii.  p.  164  f. ;  Bad^.,  p.  217.  It  was 
recognized  by  Eshtori  Parchi  and  Maundrell.  %  See  on  iS^i ;  also  p.  369. 

§  See  above,  on  ii34^  p,  301,  303. 

II  Livy,  i.  9  f. ;  Pint.,  Romulus,  14  f.  This  also  was  occasioned  by  a  refusal  of  the 
connubium. 

H  The  second  pronoun  {them)  is  then  of  the  wrong  gender,  but  so,  on  any  inter- 
pretation, is  the  pronoun  their  twice  in  the  preceding  clause. 


452  JUDGES 

his  woman  in  the  war,  which  is  interpreted,  We  did  not  reserve 
for  each  of  them  his  wife,  but  killed  all  the  women  of  the  tribe ;  * 
or.  We  did  not  procure  for  each  of  them  a  wife  in  the  war  against 
Jabesh  in  Gilead,  in  which  only  four  hundred  were  obtained.! 
The  latter  is  much  the  more  probable  explanation  of  the  words,  if 
not  the  only  one  which  they  admit.  %  A  better  reading  is  found 
in  many  Greek  manuscripts  :  Be  indulgent  to  them  ;  for  they  did 
not  get  each  his  wife  in  the  war ;  that  is  of  the  women  whom  we 
took  by  the  attack  on  Jabesh.  J^,  we  did  not  take,  may  be  a 
correction  prompted  by  the  reflection  that  the  war  on  Jabesh  was 
not  made  by  Benjamin,  but  by  the  speakers.  Other  recensions  of 
(g  have.  Be  indulgent  to  them,  that  they  took  each  his  wife  by 
war,  §  i.e.  carried  off  the  maidens  of  Shiloh,  vi  et  armis  ;  see  crit. 
note.  II  —  The  rest  of  the  verse  is  also  extremely  difficult.  A 
literal  translation  is  :  For  ye  did  not  give  them  ;  now  ye  will  incur 
guilt  (or,  the  penalty),  from  which  no  suitable  sense  can  be 
extorted.  The  renderings,  else  would  ye  now  be  guilty^  or,  that 
ye  should  be  guilty,*"^  are  grammatically  unsatisfactory.  Studer 
conjectured.  For  had  you  given  them  to  them,  you  would  be  guilty, 
sc.  of  breaking  your  oath  (v.^-  ^-  ^^) ;  but  as  your  daughters  were 
taken  by  force  you  have  done  no  wrong,  and  will  do  none  if  you 
leave  them  in  the  possession  of  their  captors.  This  gives  a  good 
sense,  and  requires  the  slightest  change  in  the  text ;  though  it  is 
not  altogether  free  from  objection ;  see  crit.  note.  — 23.  The  Ben- 
jam  ites  follow  the  counsel,  and  carry  off  as  many  of  the  dancers 
as  there  were  of  themselves ;  with  them  they  return  to  their  own 
territory,  rebuild  their  towns,  and  dwell  in  them.  —  24.  The  Israel- 
ites now  at  last  return  to  their  homes.  —  The  verse  is  by  the  later 
author,  as  both  conception  and  expression  show  beyond  question. 

*  AV.,  after  Ki.  (cf.  Michlol  Yophi).  f  RV.,  with  K,  Ra. 

J  It  would  be  possible  to  interpret :  Grant  us  them  as  a  favour ;  for  we  did  not  in 
the  war  (with  Benjamin)  take  each  his  woman  (of  the  virgins  of  the  tribe,  whom  we 
might  have  kept  for  ourselves,  Nu.  31I8.  35).  Had  we  done  so.  we  might  now  have 
given  the  surviving  men  wives  of  these  captives ;  as  it  is  we  must  beg  them  of  you. 
In  conceding  them  you  need  not  fear  the  oath  ;  {or  you  did  not  give  them,  &c.  But 
tliis  requires  us  to  supply  too  many  things  which  must  have  been  expressed,  if  this 
had  been  the  author's  meaning.  §  Cf.  2  K.  14^. 

II  If  the  words  be  supposed  to  belong  to  the  old  narrative,  this  emendation,  which 
is  adopted  by  Bu.,  is  necessary.     Be.  regards  this  clause  as  a  gloss. 

H  RV.,  after  Ew.  ^  337  c ;  Be.,  al.  **  Ra.,  Ki.,  AV.  al. 


XXI.  22-25  453 

We  are  to  imagine  the  "  congregation  "  religiously  remaining  to- 
gether until  the  last  Benjamite  is  married ;  then  returning  by 
tribes  and  clans  to  their  respective  territories,  and  finally  dispers- 
ing to  their  individual  possessions.  —  25.  hi  those  days  the7'e  was 
no  king  in  Israel;  every  man  did  as  he  pleas ed^^  \f  i8^  19^; 
final  comment  on  the  whole  history,  which  may  have  originally 
stood  after  v.^. 

15.  ins  nini  rw^  ^d]  2  S.  6^,  David  was  angry,  nT^3  }ns  ^^"^^  V"*o  'I'J'x  "^i'. 
We  must  not,  therefore,  understand  by  }nD  here,  '  a  gap.'  — 16.  D">-\nijS]  the 
remainder ;  Jos.  17-- ^  21^4  &c.;  in  the  sense  (indicated  by  the  context),  those 
who  remained  alive,  Lev.  lo^^.  —  n;rN  p^j^a  mo'kj'j  >d]  cf.  Gen.  i'^^  2  S.  21^ 
Am.  2^  freq.  in  Dt.  — 17.  p-'ju'^  na^So  ncn-'  ncx'-i]  cannot  be  translated, 
there  must  be  an  inheritance  for  them  that  are  escaped  of  Benjamin  (EV.), 
which  would  require  at  least,  jcj^  PiO-'SoS  nu'-!>.  Bu.  conjectures,  -t^nx'j 
ntD">So;  but  the  context  and  the  structure  of  the  following  clauses  seem  to 
require  something  like,  niSB'n  'T'N,  or  r\'^t^v\  "tin;  cf.  ©^^  -n-Qs  ea-rai  KXrjpoi 
dia<r(o^6fievos  rep  Bevia/Jitv  .  .  .  Kal  ov  fx^  i^aXeicpdr]  0i;Xi),  K.r.i.  — 18.  nS  umNl 
'J1  S^ij]  circumstantial;  seeing  that  we  cannot;  no  other  explanation  of  the 
emphatic  pronoun  is  natural.  —  nns']  with  ptcp.,  a  construction  which  is  very 
common  in  Dt. ;  cf.  Jer.  4810.  — 19.^  mn^  jn]  Ex.  lo^  (J?)  Hos.  ff>  Lev.  2389; 
jn  Am.  521  810  &c.  —  hd^c^  □''D^d]  annually,  ii^O;  see  note  there.  —  20.  ixm] 
the  correction  of  the  Qere,  "ium,  is  necessary.  —  21.  ni'^n?:^  Sin'^]  Kal  in  this 
sense  only  here;  cf.  SSn  (Polel)  \?^.  —  ansam]  Ps.  lo^bist  (MH.,  Aram.,  Syr., 
Arab.).*  —  22.  □n>nx  in  Dm^x]  masc.  suffixes,  referring  to  the  captured  women. 
This  negligence  is  not  uncommon.  —  ij-i^n  jnS]  Jer.  12^  Job  33^^;  for  having 
allowed  this  thing  to  be  done,  or  for  letting  it  pass  unpunished.  —  DniN  "iji:n] 
pn  with  two  accus.,  Gen.  33^  Ps.  i  \(p.  ^  is  supported  only  by  ©^  f  and  ST.  t 
@PVO  have  iXeT^crare  a^roiJs,  8ti  oiK  eXa^ev  dvrjp  yvuatKa  avroO  iv  ry  iroX^ficp, 
i.e.  .-idhSd^  ini^N  v>n  inp'?  nS  ""D  aniN  un;  the  same  text  is  represented  also  in 
a  somewhat  different  translation  by  N,  and  by  g  e,  5,  and  is  very  probably  the 
original  reading.  §  <&^^^  omit  the  negative,  'x^  incN  it'in  inpS  o  oms  un,  kindly 
forgive  them  that  they  each  took  his  wife  in  war,  i.e.  by  forcible  means. 
This  seems  to  me,  not  the  original  text  (Bu.),  but  an  erroneous  interpretation.  || 
—  i::*^'Nn  nj?^  ^rh  nnnj  onx  nS  >3]  f§  is  here  supported  by  all  the  versions. 
It  is  impossible,  however,  to  construe  or  explain  the  last  clause.  Stud.'s  con- 
jecture, h  (or  nS)  for  n*^,  is  highly  probable;  the  two  particles  are  not  infre- 
quently confounded  in  fH  and  the  versions;   cf.  2  S.  19'  2  S.  1312  Gen.  23II 


*  On  the  gender  of  INS"'  see  Ges.25  p.  451,  f  Alone,  against  N. 

X  Ed.  ven.i,  reuchl.,  cod.  Br.  Mus. ;  the  current  text  is  corrupt. 
§  Stud. ;  or  perhaps,  DniN  fi:n,  grant  the77i  (the  maidens)  to  them, 
II  Against  a  reading  sustained  by  (5LM^  g  weighs  heavily ;  the  concurrence  of  ^'^ 
is  also  noteworthy. 


454  JUDGES 

I  S.  20i5bis.  See  Hitzig,  Begriff  der  Kritik,  p.  141 ;  We.,  TBS.,  Dr.,  TBS. 
on  //.  cc*  If  this  emendation  be  adopted,  we  should  also  read  nn;?  ""D,  the  usual 
introduction  of  the  apodosis  after  i*^  {e.g.  Nu.  2229),  instead  of  n;;D :  For  had 
you  given  them  to  them,  you  would  now  be  guilty,  f  The  only  objection  to 
this  is  the  tense  of  the  verb  in  the  apodosis  (usually  the  perf.) ;  but,  you  would 
be  guilty,  may  perhaps  stand  for,  you  would  have  incurred  guilt.  —  icc^'Nn] 
Norzi:  Baer  i?:rxn.  On  the  dagesh  see  K6.,  i.  p.  64.  —  23.  D^rj  iNtf^l]  in 
the  sense  of  'take  a  wife,  marry'  (ncx  npS,  so  Stud.),  Ntt'j  is  late  (We.); 
here,  however,  the  meaning  is  rather  tollere  (Bu.).  —  niSynDn  p]  Polel  ptcp.; 
cf.  Kal  above,  v.21.  —  24.  O'^'D  I3'7nnii]  Hithpa.  seems  to  be  used  with  the 
force,  *go  in  different  directions.'  —  db'd]  i°  from  Shiloh;  2P  from  the  central 
point  of  each  clan. 

*  See  also  Cappell,  Critica  sacra,  i.  p.  264  ff.,  311  (ed.  Vogel). 
1 1  have  proposed  the  same  emendation  in  1323. 


INDEX 


I.    MATTERS. 


Abdon,  judge, 

1213-15 

clan  of  Benjamin, 

311  f. 

Abel-keramim, 

300,  301 

Abel-meholah, 

212 

Abiezer, 

184 

Abimelech,  king  in  Shechem,       ch.  9 
meaning  of  the  name,  235,  236 

Abinoam,  4*^ 

Acclaiming  a  king  or  chief  at  the 

holy  place,  9^  11 11,  288 

Acco,  49 

Achsah,  1 12-15^  29 

Achzib,  49,  51 

Adon,  proper  names  comp.  with,       15 
Adoni-bezek,  I5»  16 

Adoni-zedek,  16 

Afqa,  51 

Ahlab,  49  f.,  51 

Aijalon,  53,  54 

in  Zebulun  (Elon),  311,  312 

'Ainata,  50,  52 

'Ain  Galud,  199,  200 

'Ain  el-Gema  in,  201 

Ain  Harod,  199,  200 

'Ain  Helweh,  212 

'Ain  es-Saqut,  not  Succoth,  213 

'Ain  Shems,  53,  315 

Akrabbim,  Pass  of,  55 »  5^ 

Altar,  natural,  6'^i  13^'^ 

commemorative  names,  189 

of  Baal,  191 

Amalek,  5I*  cf.  1 2^5,  152 

Amalekites,  32,  178,  180,  280 


Amalekites,  Mountain  of  the,         31 1 
Amathus,  306 

'Amman,  291 

Ammonites,  279,  286  f.,  289 

Amorites,  52,  53,  S^,  84,  278  f. 

Anak,  sons  of,  24  f.,  39 

Anath,  50,  105,  106 

Angel  of  Yahweh,  of  God, 

57,  162,  183  f.,  185,  316,317  f. 

(see  Messenger) 
Animal  names  in  O.T.,  215 

of  women,  114 

Aphaca,  51 

Aphik,  5 1 

Arad,  32,  33,  36 

'Arair,  296 

Aram-naharaim,  87,  89 

Arba,  25 

Ark  of  the  covenant,  433  f. 

Armour-bearer,  204,  268 

Arnon,  290 

Aroer,  223,  296 

"  Aroer  in  front  of  Rabbah,"  300 

Arumah,  261 

Asher,  49,  50,  52,  155  f. 

Asherah,  sacred  pole, 

86,  191  f.,  192  f. 

goddess,  X,  86  f. 

Ashkelon,  i^^,  338 

Ashtoreth,  70 

'Asqalun,  Khirbet,  338 

Assembly,  423 

Asses,  riding,  273  f. 

Astarte,  69  f.,  70  f. 


455 


456 


INDEX 


B 

Beth-millo, 

243,  244 

BaAl, 

69,70 

Beth-rehob, 

399 

appellatively,  *  proprietor,' 

69 

Beth-shean, 

43  f-,  45  r- 

the  plural, 

70 

Beth-shittah, 

213 

used  in  Israel  of  Yahweh, 

195 

Bezek, 

14  f.,  16 

proper  names  comp.  with, 

195 

Bireh, 

252 

Baal-berith,  meaning  of  the  name,  242 

Blessing, 

373  f. 

Baal-gad, 

79  f.,  82 

Blinding  captives. 

356 

Baal-hermon, 

79,82 

Blood  superstitions, 

242  f. 

Baal-tamar, 

437 

Blood  vengeance. 

227 

Baalbek,  not  Baal-gad, 

82 

Bochim, 

58,  59  f- 

Balak,  King  of  Moab, 

295  f. 

Booty, 

168 

Banias,                                 82, 

390,  399 

Bowl, 

162,  164 

Barak, 

ch.  4,  5 

Bowstrings, 

352,  353 

the  name, 

ii5>  130 

Braids  of  hair. 

354 

his  tribe? 

151.  153 

Bread,  loaves  of, 

218 

Barley  bread,                      205 

f.,  206  f. 

barley, 

205  f.,  206  f. 

Bedan  (i  S.  12"),  error  for  Barak,  311 

Burnt  offerings. 

433 

Beer, 

252 

Beeroth, 

252 

c 

Bees,  in  the  carcase  of  the  lion,    332  f. 

Caleb, 

110-15.  20 

"  Before  Yahweh," 

288 

Kenizzite  clan. 

30  f. 

Beisan, 

44,45 

Camels, 

55712 

Beitin, 

40 

Camon, 

275 

Bel'ameh, 

44,46 

Canaanites, 

II,  81 

"  Belial,"  sons  of, 

417,  419 

the  name  in  E  and  D, 

78,79 

Belial  as  a  proper  name, 

X,  419 

in  Egyptian  texts, 

81 

Belma  (Judith  S^), 

46 

Captive  women, 

168,  2 1 10-14 

BelqS, 

287 

Carding,  a  torture. 

225,  226 

Bene  Qedem,  Eastern  Bedawin, 

Cereal  oblation, 

322 

178,  180 

Chair, 

98 

Benjamin,  tribe. 

40,  428 

Chariots,                          38,  iii  f.,  122 

famous  slingers, 

430 

Chemosh,  god  of  Moab, 

294 

almost  exterminated, 

ch.  20,  21 

Chronology,  Introd.  §  7, 

296  f. 

hist,  character  of  this  war. 

Circumcision, 

327  f- 

404-406 

City  of  Palms,  Jericho, 

31,33 

Besaanim  Tree,             119,  121  f.,  126 

Clan  of  Danites,               2 

15,  316,   388 

Bcssum, 

119 

Commentaries  on  Judges, 

Introd. 

Best  man,  at  a  wedding, 

339 

§9, 

xlvii  ff. 

Beth-anath, 

5o»52 

Concubinage,  family  relations  in,    410 

Beth-barah, 

214 

Concubine, 

235,  408  f. 

Bcth-dagon, 

359 

Connubium,  interdicted. 

445  f-,  450 

Bethel, 

40  f.,  42 

Conquest  of  Canaan, 

ch.  ii-25 

Bethlehem  in  Judah, 

409 

hist,  character  of  the  account,  7-10 

in  Zcbulun, 

310 

Corvee 

45 

INDEX 


457 


Covenant,  74  f. 

with  the  fathers,  58,  74 

Ark  of  the,  433  f. 

"  Cover  the  feet,"  euphemism,         loi 
Crescents,  ornaments,  228,  232 

Criticism  of  Judges,  literature,     xxxvi 
Cromlechs,  stone  circles,  57 

Curse,  373  f.,  446,  450 

Cushan-rishathaim,  87,  88  f. 

Cushite,  of  the  tribe  Cushan,  88 

Custodians  of  holy  places,        191,  379 


Daberath, 

"3 

Dagan,  Babylonian  god. 

360 

Dagon,  Philistine  god, 

358,  359  f- 

Dahariyeh, 

25 

Dan,  the  tribe,  52  f.,  155,  387 

migration  of,  ch.  18 

the  city,  formerly  Laish,  389  f. 

golden  calf  at,  401 

Dan  to  Beersheba,  423 

Dan's  Camp,  326,  394 

Dances,  301,303,451 

Death  of  a  god,  305 

Debir,  25,  26 

Deborah,   with    Barak    delivers 

Israel,  ch.  4,  5 

prophetess  and  judge,  112  f. 

her  tribe,  113 

the  name,  1 14 

Song  of,  see  Song. 
Deborah's  Palm,  113,114 

Deburiyeh,  114 

Dedication,  a  taboo,  373,  376 

Deir,  supposed  site  of  Jabesh,         447 
Delilah,  ch.  i64-2« 

the  name,  351 

Deliverance  from  Egypt,  181,  182 

Derceto,  359 

Deuteronomic  author  of  Judges, 
Introd.  §3,  p.  XV  ff.;  §  6, 
p.  xxxiv  f. ;  64 

"  Devote,"    to    destruction    {Jie- 

rem),  35,  444 


Devotee,  Nazirite,  317,318 

Dilbeh,  Khirbet,  Sell,  26,  28  f. 

Dodo,  Dodai,  272 

Dor,  44, 46 


E  in  Judges,  Introd.  §  4,  p.  xxv  ff. ; 
§  6,  p.  xxxiii  f. ;   63  f.,  90, 
I75-I79»  237  f.,  276,  367-369 
Ecdippa,  49,  51 

Edom,  Edomites  55,  56,  140 

Eglon,  King  of  Moab,  2>^^-^ 

his  residence,  100  f. 

Ehud,  kills   Eglon  and  delivers 

Israel,  f^-^ 

morality  of  his  deed,  104 

name  of  a  clan,  91,  92 

Ekron,  1I8 

El,  nuvien^  242 

El-berith  (cf.  Baal-berith),      236,  265 
Elders,  65,  224,  287 

of  the  congregation,  449 

Elohim,  superhuman  being,  324 

to  see,  forbodes  death,  324 

Elon,  judge,  \2>^^- 

clan  of  Zebulun,  270,  311 

En  ha-Qore,  346,  347 

Eph5d,  idol,  232,  379,  380  f. 

linen,  381 

in  P,  379,  381 

Ephraim,  tribe,  i'^^ 

relation  to  Amalek,  152 

Ephraimites,  attack  on  Gideon, 

215-217 

on  Jephthah,  306  f. 

pronunciation,  309 

Eshtaol,  363 

Eshu'a,  363 

Etam,  Rock  of  Etam,        342  f.,  343  f. 
Evil,  in  the  eyes  of  Yahweh,  68 

Evil  spirit,  253 

Expiation,  by  death  of  the  guilty,     428 
Expulsion  from  the  clan,  287 

Extinction  of  a  tribe,  449 

"  Extirpate  the  evil,"  Deut.  phrase,  428 


458 


INDEX 


Fable,  Jotham's,  97-21,  244  ff. 

its  moral,  248 

Far'ah,  Wady,  214 

"  Father,"  of  a  priest,  385 

Fer'ata,  184,  311 

Festival,  vintage,  at  Shechem,         255 

at  Shiloh,  450 

Fig,  247 

"  Fill  the  hand,"  install  a  priest,      380 
Fire  signal,  439  f.,  442 

"  Folly  "  (EV.),  of  sexual  offenses,    418 
Fords  of  Jordan,  102  f.,  214,  308 

"  Fornication,"  worship  of  other 

gods,  72,  233,  235 

Foxes,  Samson's,  340  f.,  343 

analogous  ceremonies,  341  n. 

P^eemen  of  a  town,  241 


Gaal,  insurgent  leader, 

926-11,  254  f.,  257 

Gaash,  Mt.,  66 

Gad,  155 

Galilee  of  the  Gentiles,  50 

Galud,  Nahr,  201 

Gates  of  a  city,  349 

Gaza,  ii^,'348 

Geba,  Geba',  441 
confusion  with  Gibeah, 

414,  428,  441 

Gebel  'Aglun,  287 

Gebel  Osha',  289 

Gelameh,  44,  46 


General, 

Genin, 

Gera,  Benjamite  clan, 

Gerizim, 

Gershom,  (^ershon,  Gershonites, 

Gezer, 

Giants  (Anakim), 

Gibeah  of  Benjamin,  414 

of  Saul, 

and  Geba  cunfuscd,      414,  428,  441 
Gibcath  ha-murch,  kjcj  f. 


116 

44 
92 
246 
402 
47  f- 
39 
416 
414 


Gideon,  delivers  Israel  from  Mid- 

ianites,  ch.  6-8 

Gidom  (?),  444 

Gilboa,  201 

Gilead,  155,  287 

conquest  of,  274 

father  of  Jephthah,  284 

Gilgal,  57,  60 

Gischala,  5 1 

Gleaning,  figurative  use,  216,  443 

God  {eloJiun'),  in  converse  with 

foreigners,  206 

Gods   of  other   nations,    reality 

and  power,  294 

God,  names  of,  inconstancy    of 

tradition,  see  Names. 
Gomed,  measure,  irvyixi],  93,  94 

Goyim,  1 1 9 

"  Graven  image  "  {pesel), 

94f-,  97,  375>377f- 
Groomsmen,  334 

"Grove"  (aj/z^raA),  192 

Gubeihat,  Khirbet,  222 

Gullath-maim,  illith,  tahtith,  Ca- 

naanite  names  of  places,         28 

H 

Hair,  consecration  of,  318 

Halba,  Hisn,  51 

Hamath,  80,  82 

Hammer,  124,  163 

Hamor,  Shechemite  noble,  256 

Har-heres,  53,  54 

Harithiyeh,  iii,  119,  122,  126 

Harod,  fountain,  199,  200 

Harosheth,  in,  119,  122,  126 

Harosheth  ha-goyim,  119 

Hasbeiya,  ,  80 

Havoth-jair,  in  Gilead,  274  f. 

Ilazor,  III,  112 

Heart,  the  inner  man,  355 

Heber,  the  Kenite,  ii8f. 

in  52*,  a  gloss,  162 

Hebron,  IT,  f.,  349  f. 

Hclbah,  50,  51 


INDEX 


459 


Hercules,  364 

Heretn,  a  thing  devoted  to  de- 
struction, 35,  36 
Hermon,  82 
Heshbon,  Hesban,                             293 
Highlands  of  Ephraim,             102,  103 

of  Judah,  22 

«  Hip  and  thigh,"  342,  343 

Hippos,  286 

Hittites,  43,  79,  81  f. 

Hivvites,  79,  81 

the  name,  83  f. 

Hobab,  Moses'  father-in-law, 

32,  33^  "8 
Holocaust,  of  a  city,  440 

Holy  trees,  122,  260 

at  Ophrah,  184 

at  Shechem,  243 

Homoeoteleuton,  397 

Horeb,  Mtn.  in  Midian,  140 

Hormah,  35  f. 

Horn  {shophar),  103,  197,  208  f. 

Horus-Ra,  "  Egyptian  Hercules,"  365 
Hosea,  reference  to  Jud.  19-21,  405  f. 
Human  sacrifice,  304  f. 

Hvinin,  399 


IBLEAM, 

44,46 

Ibzan,  judge. 

128  10 

Ibziq  (Bezek), 

I4f.,  16 

Idol, 

378  ff. 

Installation  of  a  priest, 

380 

Intoxicating  drink. 

317 

Iphigeneia, 

305 

Ishbosheth, 

195 

Ishmaelites, 

231 

Israel,  people  of  Yahweh, 

134 

Issachar, 

49.  151 

J  in  Judges,  Introd.  §  4,  p.  xxv  ff. ; 
§  5,  p,  XXX  f. ;  §  6,  p.  xxxiii ; 
6f.,  64,90,  109,  175-177, 

237  f.,  314  f.,  367-369,  407 


Jaazer, 

296 

Jalibok, 

290  f.,  294 

Jabesh  in 

Gilead, 

446  f. 

Jabin,  King  of  Hazor, 

109,  112 

Jackals, 

341 

Jael, 

4I8-22 

,  5^^-^^  123 

5^»  not 

a  judge, 

142 

moralit 

y  of  her  deed. 

126 

1 1 1-127 
284,  285 


Jahaz,  293 

Jair,  judge,  iqS-s,  273 

branch  of  Manasseh,  271 

Jars,  208 

Jaw  bone  of  an  ass,  345 

JE,    in     Judges,    Introd.    §    4, 
p.  xxv  ff. ;   §  6,  p.  xxxiv  f. 
Jebus,  not  anct.  name  of  Jeru- 
salem, 413 
Jebusites,                                         i^i,  3^ 
Jephthah,  judge, 

a  clan? 

hist,  character  of  the  story,  284 

his  vow,  299 

history  of  interpretation,  304 

burial  place,  309 

Jericho,  3i>  92 

Jerubbaal,  origin  of  the  name,  194  f. 
Jerubbesheth,  195 

Jerusalem,  i^'^-^i;  20  f.,  413 

Jether,  son  of  Gideon,  227 

Jethro,  Moses '  father-in-law,  32,  t^t, 
Jezreel,  Plain  of,  197,  198 

Joash,  6",  194  f. 

Jogbehah,  221  f. 

Jokneam,  275 

Jonathan,  grandson  of  Moses,  400, 402 
Joseph,  the  name  in  Egypt,  texts,  41 
Joshua,  tomb  of,  66,  67  f. 

Judah,  1 1-10. 16. 17. 18f.   1^9-13 

not  reckoned  among  the  Israel- 
ite tribes,  134  n. 
regions  of  its  territory,  22 
Levite  of,                                 383,  402 
Judge,    meaning   of    the    word, 

xi  f.,  88,  89 
Judges,  Book  of,  xi  ff. 


460 


INDEX 


Judges,  title,  xi  f.,  xiii 

place  in  canon,  xii  f. 

contents  and  divisions,  xiii-xv 

Deuteronomic   Book   of   (2''- 

i63i),  xv-xix,  xxxiv  f. 

character  and  aim,  xv  f. 

relation  to  prophets,  xvii  f. 

age,  xvi  f.,  xviii  f. 

based  on  an  older  work,     xx-xxii 

Pre-deuteronomic  Book  of,  xx-xxiv 
contents  and  extent,  xxii-xxiv 
pragmatism,  xxiv 

age,  xxiv 

composite  character,  xxiv  f. 

part  of  JE's  history?        xxv-xxvii 

Sources,  two  principal  written,  xxiv  f. 
J  and  E  in  Judges  ?  xxv-xxvii 

Song  of  Deborah,  ch.  5,         xxviii 
the  Minor  Judges,  xxviii  f. 

Sources  of  17,  18,  xxix-xxxi 

19-21,  xxxi 

1^-2^,  xxxii  f. 

Composition  of  the  book,  In- 

trod.  §  6,  xxxiii  ff. 

Chronology,  Introd.  §  7,       xxxvii  ff. 

Text,  state  of,  Introd.  §  8,  xliii 

Versions,  ancient,  ib.,  xliv-xlvii 

Commentaries,  Introd.  §  9,     xlvii  ff. 
Judges,  Minor,  270-275,  310-312 

source  of  the  notices,  xxviii  f. 

chronology,  xli  f.,  xliii 


K 

Kadesh  ('Ain  Qudeis), 

Kain,  Kenites,        34  f., 

Kareah, 

Karkor, 

Kedesh  in  Issachar, 

in  Naphtali, 
Kcnath, 

conquest  of, 
Kcnaz, 
Kenites, 
Kcnizzites, 
Key,  see  Lock. 


18. 


56, 
119, 


291 
123 

273 
223 
117 
126 
222 
274 

1 13 

34  f.,  118,  119,  123 
30  f. 


15.  "7, 


Kingdom,  Abimelech's, 

Gideon's, 

Gideon  refuses, 

judgement  of, 
Kirjath-arba, 
Kirjath-jearim, 
Kirjath-sepher, 
Kishon, 
Kitron, 


239 
239 

C22f. 


229  f.,  245,  248 
23,  24  f. 

393  f- 

25  f.,  27 

119  f.,  159 

.     49,  50  f- 


Laish,  389  f. 
Lapidoth,                           113,  114,  130 

Lattice  window,  167 

Lebanon,  3^ 

Lebonah,  451 

Leggun,  Legio  (Megiddo),  45,  47 
Lehi,                                   344,  347,  348 

Levites,  priests,  383  f. 

etymology  of  the  word,  384  f. 

Judaean,  383,  385 

connected  with  Judah,  408  f. 

Mosaite,  400,  402 

Lion,  330  f. 

Lock,  99  f. 

Loom,  354 

Love  to  God,  169,  171 

Lowlands  {shephelaJi)  ^  22 

Lubban,  el,  451 

Luz,  old  name  of  Bethel,  40,  42 

in  Hittite  country,  41,  43 

M 

Ma  AN,  280 

"  Maareh-geba"  (RV.),  437 

Machir,  150 

Mahalliba  (Ahlab,  Helbah?),  51 

Mahaneh  Dan,  326,  394 

Maktesh,  346 

Malih,  Wady, 

Man  of  God,  prophet, 

Manasseh,  tribe, 

Manasseh,    18^'',  substituted  for 

Moses,  400,  401  f. 

Manoah,  3^5  f- 


212 
317 

T27f. 


INDEX 


461 


Mantle, 

231 

Maonites, 

280 

Marriage,  exogamous, 

328 

sadiqa, 

235.  329 

customs, 

334,  339  f- 

Massebah, 

243 

Master,  husband, 

418  f. 

"Meadows  of  Gibeah  "  (AV.),  437 
Megiddo,  Leggun,  44  f.,  46  f.,  158 
Melek,  the  king  god,  235 

in  Israel,  Yahweh,  235 

Meroz,  161 

Mesha,  inscription  of,  35,  91,  291 

Mesopotamia,  87 

Messenger  of  Yahweh, 

57,  162,  183  f.,  185,  316 

appearance  of,  3^7  f- 

to  see,  bodes  death,  189 

of  God,  188 

Micah,  eh.  17,  18 

Midian,  Midianites,  177,  179  f. 

Midianite  clan  names  in  Israel,       1 79 

Midrash,  405, 407 

Milcom,  god  of  Ammon,  294  f. 

Milk,  sour,  162  f. 

intoxicating  properties  ascribed 

to,  124 

Milk-skin,  123,  163 

Mill,  grinding  as  a  punishment,  357 
Millstone,  268 

Minaeans,  280 

Minnith,  300,  301 

Minor  Judges,  see  Judges. 
Miryamin,  Jabesh,  447 

Mizpah,  in  Benjamin,  422  f. 

in  Gilead,  288  f. 

Moab,  90  f.,  294  ff. 

Mogib,  Wady,  290 

"  Molten  image  "  {massekah), 

37S»  377»  378 
Moreh,  hill  of,  200 

Morning  gift,  340 

Mortar,  34^,  347 

Moses,  work  of,  134 

in  Midian,  179 


Moses,  ancestor  of  priests  of  Dan,  400 
Levites  claim  descent  from,  402 

Mourning  for  the  death  of  a  god,  305 
Mugedda',  Khirl)et,  not  Megiddo,  47 
Muntar,  el,  hill  near  Gaza,  349 

Muqatta,  not  Megiddo,  158 

Mutilation  of  captives,  17,  356 

N 

Nabulus,  Shechem,  240,  241  n. 

Nahalol,  49,  50  f. 

Naharin,  in  Egyptian  texts,  89 

Name,  ineffable,  321 

Names,  of  God,  inconstancy  of 

tradition,        126,  189,  217,  435 

consisting  of  subj.  and  pred.,        189 

compounded  with  Yahweh,  377 

with  ad  Oily  15  f. 

with  baal,  195 

with  meleky  235,  236 

Naphtali,  50,  115,  156 

Nations  of  Canaan,  3^-  ^-  ^ ;  the  seven,  83 

Nazirite,  317.  3^8 

Nebi  Dahi,  200 

Nebi  Samwil,  423 

Necklaces,  on  camels,  227  f.,  232 

Negeb,  22 

"New  gods,"  145,  147 

Nobah,  222,  274 

Numbers,  in  ch.  20,  424,  426 


Oath, 
form  of, 
evaded. 

Offering, 


21I.7. 18.22 

228 

45O'  cf.  373  f. 

187,  433 


Oil,  in  religious  rites,  247 

Olive,  246  f. 

Ophrah,  184 
Oracle,  consultation  of, 

II,  389,  cf.  als0  20l8-23.27f. 

Oreb,  214  f. 

Oreb's  Rock,  214 

Othniel,        1^3-15  37-11^  27,  29,  30,  Sj  i. 
Ox-goad,  1 05,  106 


462 


INDEX 


p 

QaimSn, 

275 

Page, 

204 

Qanawat,  not  Kenath, 

222 

Palestine,  boundaries. 

80 

Qudeis,  Tell  Abu, 

117,  126 

Palms,  City  of,  Jericho, 

3h33 

Qudeis,  *Ain,  Kadesh, 

56,  291 

Paneas, 

390,  399 

Queen, 

168 

Panic,                                 120 

222,  440 

Partridge  Spring, 

346,  347 

R 

Patriarchs,  promise  to, 

58,74 

Ram,  er. 

114,  413  f. 

"  Peace  offerings," 

433,  435 

Ramah  in  Benjamin,           1 14  f.,  413  f. 

Pendants, 

232 

Rammon, 

444 

Penuel, 

220,  223 

Ramoth  in  Gilead, 

289 

Perizzites, 

17 

Ras  et-Tawil,  Khirbet, 

414 

Petra, 

55,56 

Rehob, 

51  f. 

Philistines,                        80  f. 

105,  279 

Rehob  (Nu.  1321), 

399 

"  uncircumcised," 

327 

Reuben, 

154  f. 

tyrants  of. 

78 

Rhyme, 

359 

Phinehas, 

434 

Riddle,  Samson's, 

334  f. 

Phoenicians,                 79,  81, 

279,  390 

Rimmon, 

444 

Pin,  tent. 

124,  163 

Rings,  golden,  of  Bedawin, 

231 

used  in  weaving, 

354 

Ruth,  relation  to  Judges, 

xxxii 

Pirathon, 

3" 

S 

Plain,  the  coast, 

37 

the  great,  names  of, 

198 

Sacred  pole  {asherah), 

of  Jezreel, 

197,  198 

86,  191  f.,  192  f. 

Points  of  the  compass, 

351 

Sacred  stone  {f?iassebah). 

243 

Polygamy, 

235 

Sacred  trees,             122,  i8<: 

,  243,  260 

Pragmatism,                           62  f.,  275  f. 

Sacrifices, 

433,  435 

of  Deut.  author,     xv  ff.,  xxxv,  62  f. 

human, 

299,  304  f. 

of  JE, 

xxiv 

Saaaq,  sadiqa, 

340 

of  E2,        xxvii  f.,  xxxiii  f.. 

62,  275  f. 

Safa,  Naqb,                       35, 

36,  55,  56 

Priests,  Levites  (see  Levites),         383 

Salt,  sowing  with. 

263 

Mosaite, 

400,  402 

Salt,  town, 

289 

at  Dan, 

400 

Samson, 

ch.  13-16 

not  Levites, 

380,  386 

the  name,                        325 

,  326,  365 

installation  of, 

380 

his  marriage, 

327  ff. 

Princesses, 

167 

character  of  his  adventures,      313  f. 

Prophet,  Prophetess,        1 12 

181,317 

mythical  interpretations, 

364  f. 

Prophetesses  in  O.T., 

114 

Samuel,  among  the  judges. 

xxii  f. 

Proprietors  of  holy  places, 

191,379 

Sanur, 

272 

Puah,  clan  of  Issachar, 

270 

Sarthan, 

212,  213 

Purple  garments,                    232,  234  n. 

Saul,   animosity    toward,  in 

ch. 

Q 

19-21? 

408 

Sayce,  on  Jud.  3^-11, 

85 

Qades,  Kedesh  in  Naphtali, 

1 15,  116 

Sculptured  stones. 

94  U  97 

Qadish,  Khirbet, 

117,  126 

Scythopulis, 

45  f- 

INDEX 


463 


Sebata,  Sebaita, 

Seilun,  Shiloh, 

Seinecke,  on  Jud.  5, 

Seir, 

Seirah,   . 

Sela, 

Selbit, 

Sepher  ha-yashar, 

Sererah, 

Seven  Nations  of  Canaan, 

Shaalbim, 


Shamgar, 


35»36 

450  f. 

129  f. 

140 

X,  100,  102 

55»56 

53,54 

no 

212 

83 

53,54 


331,  105  f,,  142 


was  he  an  Israelite? 
Shamir, 
Shatta, 
Shechem, 

population  Canaanite, 
Shibboleth, 


143 
272 
213 
240 
243,  255 
308,  309 


Shiloh,  447,  450  f. 

house  of  God  (temple)  at,  369,  400 

Shrine,  Micah's  private,  378  f. 

Sidon,  Sidonians,         79,  81,  279,  390 

Sign,  186,  198 

Sihon,  King  of  Amorites,  293 

Silversmith,  maker  of  idols,         376  f. 

Simeon,  tribe,  jSf.  17.  12,35-37 

Sinai,  140 

5^  (that  is,  Sinai),  gloss,  141 

Sisera,  ch.  4,  5;  108,  in,  112 

mode  of  his  death,        108,  163-166 

Slingers,  429  f. 

Song  of  Deborah,  ch.  5 

translation,  1 71-173 

literature  of  interpretation,  127,  136 

age  and  authorship,  xxviii,  129-132 

historical  value,  132  ff. 

religion  of  Israel  in,  134 

mythical  interpretation,         1 29- 131 

state  of  the  text,  128  f.,  146 

poetic  form,  135  f,,  137  n. 

«  Sons  of  Belial,"  417 

Sorek,  351 

Soul,  362 

South,  The  {Negeb),  22 

Spirit  of  Yahweh,   87  f.,  197,  298,  331 


Spirit,  evil,  sent  by  God,  253 

Squire,  268 

Stars,  their  paths,  158,  159 

Stone  circles  (cromlechs),  57 

Stratagems,  208  ff.,  259  f.,  263  f.,  435  f. 
Succoth,  213,  218,  219 

Sur'ah,  Zorah,  315 

Surar,  Wady,  351 

Syria,  390 

River  (Aram-naharaim),  87,  89 


Taanach,  Ta'annuk, 
Table, 
Taboos, 
Tabor, 
Mt., 
Tambourine, 
Tantura, 

"  Tearing  of  a  kid," 
Tell  el-Ful,  Gibeah, 
Tell  el-Qadi,  Dan, 


44,46 

18 

318,  320,  373 

226,  228 

"5 

301,  3^3 

44 

331,  3ZZ 

414,  416 

390 

Temples,  not  numerous,  265,  378 

of  Baal-berith,  Shechem,  242 

of  El-berith,  near  Shechem,         265 

of  Dagon,  Gaza,  1523-30 

its  construction,  360  f. 

of  Yahweh,  at  Ophrah,  232  f. 

Dan,  400  f. 

Shiloh,  400 

private,  Micah's,  378  f. 

Tent  pin,  124 

Teraphim,  379  f.,  381  f. 

Text  of  Judges,  Introd.  §  8,        xliii  ff. 

Thebez,  267 

Theocratic   principle,  "Yahweh 

shall  rule,"  230 

Theophany,  183  f. ;  see  Messen- 
ger of  Yahweh. 
Thorns,  219 

Thorn,  Box,  248 

Threshing  as  a  torture,  224  f. 

Threshing  floor,  198 

Threshing  sledges,  220 

Tibneh,  66,  327 


464 


INDEX 


Timnath,  68,  327 

Timnath-heres,  66,  67 

Timnath-serah  (Jos.  24^^  ip^o),  66,  67 


10^ 


Tob,  District  of, 
Tola,  judge, 

clan  of  Issachar, 
Tomb  of  Jephthah, 

Joshua, 

Minor  Judges, 

Samson, 
Torches, 
Torture, 
Tower,  of  Shechem, 

at  Thebez, 
Treasure,  in  temples. 
Trees,  sacred,  see  Holy  trees. 
Tribute, 

"  Tribute  "  (i28  &c),  see  Corvee 
Tubania, 
Tubas, 


285, 


286 
272 
270 


66,  67  f. 

I02.5  12IO.  12. 15 

208  f.,  210 

225,  226 

264 

267 

242 


93  f- 

200 
267 


U 

Upper  story,  96,  97  f. 

Urim  and  Thummim,  382 


Vernes,  M.,  on  Jud.  5,  130  f. 

Versions,  anct.,  of  Judges,  Introd. 

§  8,  xliv  ff. 

Vintage  festival,  at  Shechem,  92' 

Shiloh,  2ii9 

Vow,  Jephthah's,  299,  301  f,  304 

W 

Watches  of  the  night,  209 

Way  of  Yahweh,  75  f. 


Weaving,  354 

Weeping,  before  Yahweh,  432,  445 

Wilderness,  of  Benjamin,  440,  444 

of  Judah,  32 

Wine,  247,  316  f. 

libations,  247  f. 

Wine  press,  184 

"Withes,"  35^ 


Yahweh,  the  God  of  Israel, 

134 

proprietor  {bdal')^ 

king  (nielek)^ 

god  of  war, 

his  ancient  seats, 

adoption    of  the    religion   at 
Horeb,  134 

proper  names  comp.  with, 
Yalo,  Aijalon, 
Yebla, 


210,  294 

195 

230,  235 

120 

134,  139  f- 


179 

377 

53 

46 


"  Zaanaim,"  plain  of, 

Zalmon,  Mt., 

Zalmunna, 

Zaphon, 

Zebah, 

Zebul, 

Zebulun, 

Zeeb,  Zeeb's  Press, 

Zephath, 

Zer'in, 

Zerqa,  Nahr, 

Zib,  Achzib, 

Zorah, 


49. 


121 

265 
218,  219  f. 

306 
218,  219  f. 

258 

115.  156 
214  f. 

35  f. 

197 

290  f. 

49,51 
315,316 


II.    HEBREW  WORDS  AND   FORMS. 


n3K  with  negative,  refuse. 


PAGE 
292 

236 


DIN  human  kind,  other  men, 
1N  in  disjunctive  question, 
"iPN  a  certain. 


PAGE 

353 
397 
316 


INDEX 


465 


iT^bipN  watch  of  the  night,  210  f. 

nwii  5^8,  169 

n-i-^'N  X,  86  f.,  192  f. 

nntt'x  late  plur.,  87 

nx  before  a  nominative,  443 

nx  prep.,  not  instrumental,  220 


2  in  the  character  of,       152,  164,  303 
partitive,  328 
2  and  D  before  infinitive  in  ex- 
pressions of  time,  420 
|ri3  plural  of,  19 

1^12,    'Z'}2  -\<!  lOI 
2H 


PAGE 

PAGE 

nnN  not  distributive. 

228 

Sx  nt03 

441 

•ym 

250 

ijnx  ""a 

185,    187 

•MSt* 

94 

D^Sjin  p3 

166 

n»N 

185 

3x  n>a 

243 

ryh^H  818,  where, 

228 

Sx  no,  '7x110 

434 

Sn-iC'"'  ^>h  never 

indefinite, 

207 

Xi'7D  n>3 

244 

:3>i  t»n 

307 

D>n3y  no 

182 

"IN  restrictive, 

loi,  211 

SpJ^a  etymology, 

419 

nSx,  nSvV,  pSx, 

&c.. 

121  f. 

SSa.VSa 

417 

D-icnn  D-'n'^N  5^, 

147 

S^Sa  "ija  Greek  renderings, 

419 

f|SN  branch  of  a 

tribe, 

187 

p:yr\  >:2 

39 

rSx 

357 

-iV? 

lOI 

DN  in  an  oath. 

147 

D^Sya  meaning  of  the  plur. 

70 

DN    fMTJTpSiroXlS, 

25,  of.  144 

i<''T]r\   np 

298 

IIDX,  TiDX 

358 

p|DD  JJX2  51^,  gain. 

160 

T  ■  ■: 

381 

D>j;?x3  4I1,  D''jjj;x:3 

121 

TifiX 

380  f. 

nna  bar, 

351 

•"O  DflN 

118 

nna  etymology, 

74  f. 

PJ-|N 

234 

nn2  niD 

61 

mn-)x  caravans, 

144 

2  1^3  52, 

138 

Dnnj_  nnx 

89 

D'^:p-\n  8'',  Arab,  berqan^  a 

Cen- 

mx 

164 

taurea, 

220 

tytra  170 

n 

■\2ii  man,  170 

Mj  of  Israel,  74 

S"\u  13 

nSjSj  70, 269 

rhx  TuXad,  ToWady  30 

D-iD  nSj,    niSy  'J,    n-innn  'j,    Ca- 

naanite  proper  names  of 

places,  30 

DJ  cumulative  use,  141 

inj  3^^,  a  measure  less  than  a 

cubit,  94 

pj  199 


n^j 


160 


466 


INDEX 


'S«3  \JTN3  nan 

'^D  2^  ^y  nan 

nn.  522, 

pm 

nS"'S-\  the  name, 

"TIT  with  a  genitive, 


PAGE 

243 
410 
161 
73 
365 
425 
223 


243 
295 
438 
443 
47 
285  f. 


n 

ON  ...  n  in  disjunct,  question, 
pCNH  anomalous  construction, 
n-'jn  Hebr.  and  Aram,  usage, 
^m^  20*3, 

ytfin  deliver /r<7;«,  construction,  281  f. 
^nSnnn  249 

cnnn,  ty-innn  350 

'•rzf'D^r],  •>jty"«Dn  i626,  361 

r?n,  2"?  ran  309 

Vn^n  303 

nSh  question  importing  emphatic 

affirmation,  117,  170 

256  f.,  cf.  360 


189 

256  f.,  360 

337>  426 

161 

165 


rSn 
SSn 

dSn 
D'r'n 

-T 

cSdv  ninSn  528, 

Dcn  cause  a  panic  (God),  122 

njn  of  unexpected  coincidence, 

124  f.,  303 

n^:n  361 

ippjri  20^1,  unassimilated  n,  438 

oycn  343 


PAGE 

nrn  oj'fDn  gender  of  D;;i3  363 

jvsn  203,  234 

3nn  20^^,  transcriptional  error,    441  f. 
tinnn  20*^,  442  f. 

j^nn  shout  in  alarm,  212 

onDN  2^vn  170 

"[Sinn  go  their  several  ways(?),     454 
nnnDnn  loi,  412 

'Voa  h^ynn  420 

li^isnn  and  cognate  forms,  430 

1 

1  adversative    after    a    negative 

clause,  416 

"  explicative,"    212,  267  f.,  269,  435 

nr)tt'''X"i  12^,  error  in  many  edd.,      308 

'^^^]  357 

h21^  1921,  error  of  some  edd.,     .1    417 

Tl  (■>"'0  ^99 

nc'n  254 

l>nm  9^3^  269 


nr  ?</  «/,  142 

TD  nr  5^,  gloss,  142 

nm  ^               425 

IDT  _^,               139 

'Vd  Sj?  njr  V               409 

pyt  with  accus.,  308 

DUpr  289 


onan  confederates,  428 

mn>  jn  453 

Sin  144 


INDEX 


46; 


S-in  Kd, 

PAGE 

453 

ppin 

148 

nin 

275 

nan 

453 

iSn 

166 

T   :  v 

165 

Don  with 

obj. 

gen., 

254 

DTinDH  linn 

[5I6, 

346 

Dwm 

206 

Di>n  nun 

19^ 

412 

aS  '>p_pn 

157 

D^n 

35.36 

D^n  54.  225,  339 

□"•nn    confused    in  Greek   with 

D>n3,  43 

tnh  (cf.  inn  156),  33 


to 


aito  inf., 
inf.  abs.j 
ptcp., 


262 
360 
297 
297 


aito  adj.,  as  pred.  often  uninflected,  217 
NDta  of  prohibited  animal  kinds,  318 
>lt3  346 


hn>  Hiph., 

32>   528, 

DiStt'  nint 

T 

0>D''  the  sea, 
nns\  SxnnD'' 

T  :  • 

N-i""  two  constructions  combined, 

nn.  513, 

'\:vy^  14I5,  infin., 


47 
169 
189 
321 
158 
125 
285 
195 
196 

152 
337 


IT""  with  suffix,  participial  pred.,       199 
in>  pin,  for  beating  up  in  weav- 
ing. 353  f- 
nn">  bowstring,  353 


D   before  inf.  in  expressions  of 

time,  420 

■i^  jar,  210 

r^^^  88 

HTDi  nb  dissimilation,  391 

DN  ij  after  an  oath,  &c.,  343 

P  ^]}  O  189 

nn;?  13  apodosis  of  ^h,  454,  cf.  325 

h>h2  442 

Dn-iDa  r^'iDs  228 

PJ3  104 

?yj3  81 

ND3  98 

ny^  (see  nny  o)  325,  454 

j^:!  d;!?  15^  343 

yn3  166,  cf.  303 

nna  n-\D  61 

a no  225 

nnp  20'^8^  442 


S  with  the  passive,  377 

nS  erroneously,  for  nS,  i'?,  453  f. 

naS  without  suffix,  203 

ncn  N13S  82 

T-: 

z>2h  of  seizure  by  a  spirit,  198 

•i'?  228,  325,  453 

NiS  'priest,'  in  S.  Arabic  inscript.,  384 
■•iS  etymology  and  usage,  384  f. 

nV-iS  339 

an'-  5^  147 


468 


INDEX 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Din^^  annually, 

386 

Dp  corvee, 

47 

TjS  imperat.  of  ^'?^ 

416 

noDD 

375»  377  f- 

T?';  i»'. 

289 

N10DD 

416  f. 

nj? .  .  .  pS 

425 

nsiDD  recounting,  narration,            207 

IpcS  ^vith  inf^ 

78 

T'i;?D 

193 

3in  >oS        3 

43 

D-'jjiyD 

262 

T-isS  torch, 

210 

nSyp  ascent,  pass, 

225 

noS 

363 

nnyp  20^3,  prob.  error, 

438 

PP^ 

203 

nD-\;;D  6^6, 

193 

CNiS  per  capita, 

170 

nw;?'?  N^SflD 

324  f. 

Dvh  ('ki*^'^)  pronunciation, 

391 

NXD  suffice, 

158 
448 

D 

a-xp 

244 

np  5^^ 

148 

n>:«p  substitutions  for, 

244 

DHN  nn  aposiopesis(?), 

393 

n-nxD 

180 

-["'I  >h  HD 

292 

nsxp,  nsxp 

289 

J1D 

141 

naDiD 

122 

nniD 

318 

p-\D 

188 

PDi"!  ma 

448 

PNC'p  fire  signal,  irvpaSs, 

442 

ym 

166 

liTD  military  use, 

118 

cxxno  5I1, 

148 

IDT  aotyn 

448 

pns 

165  f. 

njyB>D 

189 

D\7|-'no  5IS 

153 

nnott'D 

316 

|n>  ">D  different  constructions  of, 

258 

D^nott'D  5!^ 

157 

'av  :       • 

322 

ohp,  ono 

444 

D"'D''D 

289 

pnn 

250 

n::>D>  d^d^d 

303 

3 

rriDD  mortar,  n.  pr., 

347 

I?*^? 

185 

\:^M  of  hostile  approach, 

435 

n^Sd 

244 

onmj  remainder. 

453 

HDiSc,  •'DiS?:,  imperative. 

24s 

>  250 

■i^n^  5^  •"'''JJ 

141 

idSd  ox  goad, 

106 

ajj  ring. 

233 

IJ09  masc.  suff.  for  fem., 

303 

Dvn  nitoj 

412 

nnnjo  6''^, 

180 

niD^taj 

233 

nmj2  20<8,  n.  pr., 

443 

ntoj 

141 

nnjp 

187 

nyjj 

357  f- 

"jp  for  ]p, 

152 

VdJ,   Sp3                             lOI,  1 

66,  206,  223 

INDEX 


469 


mxVfij 

PAGE 
185 

y)]}  give  counsel, 

PAGE 

421 

^£3:  Kal. 

211 

^'v 

269 

3XJ  hilt  of  a  dirk, 

98 

n^])  unusual  sense, 

75 

'Sd  p  n,?: 

343 

n^y,  '\P 

125,  225 

ncN  Ntrj 

454 

"^y. 

275 

y2\i^i  swear  not  to  do  something, 

n""  "?;; 

298 

how  expressed, 

345 

o^V 

92 

latt'j 

453 

^:si  h]}  topographical, 

300,  351 

nnj  cut  up  a  carcase, 

421 

^M 

97 

|nj  anomalous  form, 

353 

m^V;; 

217 

Dy  soldiery,  esp.  footmen. 

262 

D 

"•JijS  nnv  of  priestly  ministry 

hy  nny 

435 
195 

1330  Niph.  with  accus.. 

419 

hny 

282 

ni3'>aD  adv.  accus., 

210 

D^Scy 

165 

D^jnD 

337 

dmjd;; 

152  f. 

nmo  imperat.:  accent. 

125 

Pd; 

37  f-,  38  f. 

NiD^D  the  name. 

112 

njj?  ravish, 

419  f. 

ho 

188 

pjy 

39 

"i;?D    195-8, 

412 

•^??  18', 

392 

I^S  "i;;d 

412 

"^i?t 

298 

I^PD 

343 

mx  r\vy 

187 

SflD 

164 

•^•^'i  HB'y 

386 

ifib                            26f.,  153,  cf 

•  151 

1^ 

HNID 

273 

^ 

D'tma 

244 

h  "i3y  prob.  error, 

70 

mh^D 

236 

I3j;  with  accus.. 

300 

in!i'jS"i£3  abnormal  suffix. 

419 

:3  -i3y  256,  Sx  300,  V;? 

254 

^^^? 

322 

nn3  "13);  and  equivalents. 

75 

nuVo,  d^jSd 

157 

pSj;j 

92 

337  njps 

269 

np  with  infin.. 

lOI 

hy2)Q  in  Phoen.  inscript., 

223 

clauses  after, 

350 

njD 

420 

iriN  "ly 

122 

Snud 

223 

ipan  njj 

196 

nu3  principal  men, 

425 

HDJ  1J7 

416 

-DD 

375.  377 

nng 

425 

plur.  D-'S-'DD 

97 

470 


INDEX 


PAGE 

PAGE 

d;*d  verb, 

326 

niDTi|? 

267 

U';t,  c>fln 

199 

343 

,363 

npnp 

223 

357 
412 

n 

prno 

144 

,148 

vn-\  military 

sense, 

210 

M"!?'  'I"?? 

17 

^nnn  . .  .  ai 

sompar. 

with  infin. , 

203 

yic,  niyiD 

138 

n3i 

258 

1*?? 

453 

-n  not  colloquial  perf.  of 

I'^N 

416 

toK'D  (^N,  S;;) 

260,  441 

n-in 

333 

nPD    adv.    accus 

preferred 

to 

m-\ 

217 

nnfij, 

^ 

420 

nin>  nn 

198 

139 
170 

i'3X,    D"iy3X 

170 

3>n 

297 

°'1? 

61  f. 

Sx  3n  195 

453;  '' 

an 

195 

pix  SuSu/c,  god, 

16 

D^pn 

244 

nipix 

148 

■"nS  HDT 

346 

pnx 

360 

^v: 

339 

nnns  colour  adj. 

i 

148 

■^r\>y\ 

303 

':>^'?s 

206 

HOT 

217 

d'^x  in  inscript.  from  Teima, 

220 

Dvn  nai 

412 

jTip'^i  Midianite 

name, 

220 

P"^ 

78,  303»  339 

,417 

nyi 

29 

125 

HDi-^n 

171 

i"'j;s  minor  natu, 

187 

pD'i 

307 

^ 

-\STi 

203 

VT 

141 

nn;c 

266 

□^jini^ 

228 

on:( 

259  f. 

HDIU' 

267 

m>v 

148 

P 

D^v  set  up  an 

idol, 

402 

D"'pnp 

160 

uv^  D^iy 

236 

tf-ip 

36 

nbE' 

267 

Snp 

425 

HD^nc' 

125 

D^XIp 

220 

nnyi^,  nnjffer 

431 

rv 

289 

^i:' 

218  f. 

258 

^xp  with  VDi 

282 

Ti-iiy 

152 

rx-^?  infin., 

217 

pits' 

353 

INDEX 


471 


\u 

PAGE 

\qy^ 

103  f. 

tt'  sound  of, 

309 

ptt'DtJ' 

326,  365 

tt'  relative,  5"  61"^  712 

826, 

144. 

187 

D^Diy 

73 

nino  Sxa'  &c., 

13 

434 

;'D!y 

III 

rv^yyi? 

448 

nSytyo 

54 

toity 

153 

lyti' 

262 

p>ja  ito^u' 

430 

too::' 

xi  f.,  88,  89 

-»3C' 

152 

Dinoo' 

157 

n^tt'  interpretation, 

207 

n 

W?^ 

171 

T-: 

328  f. 

nV'i'i' 

166 

?i? 

416 

SyiB* 

54 

ySin  cochineal. 

273 

IflW 

103 

nin 

42 

•>?.>? 

317 

,318 

t:'n'»n 

250 

Stt*  (?)  on  a  stone  weight, 

145 

Din  njDn,  n-iD  njDn 

67 

nSu'  various  spelling, 

448 

nnjDn 

328 

t^Ni  rhv 

21 

inn 

114 

19 

n:n 

148 

cnSty 

435 

njn  lament. 

303  f- 

a-in  'iSa' 

223 

t]n  tambourine, 

303 

tt'lDDH  DB' 

322 

T   :t 

259 

nj;?  p  ■UDtt' 

106 

DiQnn 

380,  381  f. 

III.   GRAMMATICAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Abbreviations  in  Hebrew, 

Apposition,  of  genus  and  species. 

114 

121,415 

416 

to  dependent  genitive. 

29 

Accent,  varied  for  rhythm, 

151 

to  governing  noun. 

29 

Accus.,  absol.  object,  double,  126 

,333 

of  verbs, 

267 

qualified  by  adj., 

448 

Article,  before  constr.  state, 

223 

adv.,  of  specification, 

19 

idiomatic  use  of,            205, 

^-iZ 

319 

double,  after  vb.  of  dividing. 

210 

Asyndeton, 

164, 

397 

after  vb.  '  satisfy,  support,' 

412 

Affirmative  and  neg.  coordinated 

Casus  pendnis, 

16s 

for  emphasis. 

337 

Circumstantial  clause, 

Alliteration, 

152 

124,  125  f.,  185, 

302, 

321 

Annexation,  suspended. 

419 

postponed, 

III 

472 


INDEX 


Circumstantial  clause,  anteposed,    346 
Cognate  subject,  ptcp.,  300 

Cognate  object,  233 

Concord,  of  subj.  and  pred.,  220 

Conditional  sentences,  289,  357 

(see  also  Tenses.) 
Construct  state,  suspended,      161,  419 

before  prep,  and  genit.,  223 

Contamination  of  signification,       337 
Correlative  clauses,  bidding  and 

promise,  13 

Discord   of  gender,  masc.   suff. 

for  fem.,     303,  419,  451  n.,  453 

of  number,  121,  321,  328 

Disjunctive  question,        243,  337,  397 

Distributive  suffix,  267 

Doubling  of  a  mute  lost,  217 

Energetic  mood  ("  voluntative  "),  258 
Exclamatory    sentence    of    one 

member,  211 

Feminine  in  names  of  callings, 

titles,  &c.,  138 

Finite  verb,  continuing  inf.  with 

change  of  subj.,  442 

Genitive,  after  proper  nouns,  189 

two   gen.   dependent   on  one 

noun,  19,  215 

(see  also  Annexation.) 

Gentile  adj.,  use  of  art.  with,  32 

Hiphil  of  sense-perception,  353 

Ilypotheticals,    tenses     in,    see 
Tenses. 

i,  okl  ending  of  2  sg.  fem.  perf.,     145 
pron.  2  sg.  fem.,  145,  377 

Imperfect,  energ.,  in  consec.  tense,  182 
frecjuentative,  1 70 

Infin.    abs.,   Niph.,    from   perf. 

stem,  297  f.,  442 


PAGE 

Infin.  abs.,  continuing  finite  vb.,  211 
at  the  beginning  of  a  sentence 

without  emphasis,  249 

Infinitive,  subj.  in  nominative,  244 

in  direct  regimen,  217 

gerundial,  73,  76 

with  negative,  77 


Jussive,  second  pers.. 


161 


Letters  above  the  line,  400,  401  f. 

Locative  ending,  mistaken  for  fem.,  295 


Meiosis, 
Mixed  forms. 


158 
318 


Nominal  sentence,  parenthetic,  24 

Nouns  formed  with  affixed  n,  121 

Numerals,  irreg.  construction,  223 

Object,  absolute,  see  Accusative, 

cognate,  233 

concomitant,  308 
double,  see  Accusative. 

Object  clause  without  conjunction,  267 


Parataxis, 

185 

Participle,  circumstantial. 

219 

Passive,  direct  obj.  in  accus., 

195 

Patrial  adj.,  from  fem.  nouns. 

343 

Perfect,  of  fixed  resolve. 

377 

in  exclamatory  questions, 

249 

in  urgent  entreaty. 

289 

consec,  not  gram,  subordinate 

>  350 

after  temporal  clause. 

220 

Piska, 

60  f. 

Plural,  internal. 

298 

in  Senjerli  inscript., 

153  n. 

Pregnant  construction, 

333 

Protasis,  triple, 

251 

Relative  clause,  without  rel.  pron.,  430 
pronominal         complement 

omitted,  122 


INDEX 


473 


PAGE 

Subject,  cognate  (ptcp.),  300 

Suffix,  reflexive,  170,  196,  203 

Superlative,  164 

Tenses,  in  hypothesis  contrary 

to  reality,  228 

in  continued  hypothesis,  125 


PAGE 

Tenses,  sequence  of,  73,  357 

(see  also  Perf.,  Imperf.) 

utty  old  ending  of  impf.  pre- 
served, 195 
uty  ending  of  abstract  nouns,  165 


IV.    PASSAGES   INCIDENTALLY   DISCUSSED. 


PAGE 

PAGE 

Exod.   32I 

142 

I  Sam. 

921 

430 

Num.    12^ 

88 

13^ 

1321 

399 

1754 

20 

21I 

36 

2  Sam. 

23U 

345 

2i26b(5 

300  f. 

245 

300 

31 

44S>447 

I  Kings 

4I2 

213  n. 

3234 

300 

746 

212  f. 

32-39.  41.  42 

5 

141^- 

142 

Josh.     10 

15I8 

86 

Il3 

81 

i8i9 

86 

III-9 

109 

2  Kings 

927 

46 

,32 

47  n. 

21? 

86 

13* 

51  n. 

23^ 

86 

I3I3 

6 

25I9 

153 

1313-19 

5»23 

I  Chron. 

528 

82 

1563 

5,20 

2  Chron. 

I5I6 

86 

1 610 

5 

Isaiah 

I026 

214 

1711 

46 

I9i« 

54 

1711-13 

5»  43»  47 

23I3 

142 

1714-18 

5 

Jeremiah  52^5 

153 

1929 

49  U  51 

Hosea 

9«  io9 

405  f. 

1930 

49 

Psalm 

687 

266  n. 

1947 

6 

689 

142 

2428-30 

4,  lo,  65,  67 

Job 

618.  19 

144 

474 


INDEX 


ABBREVIATIONS.' 


AV, 

Authorized    English   Ver- 

DB.^DB'^. 

,  Dictionary   of    the   Bible, 

sion,  i6ii. 

edited  by  W.  Smith,  ist 

Ba., 

Johannes  Bachmann. 

ed.  1863,  3  vols.;  vol.  i. 

Bad^v 

Badeker       (Socin-Benzin- 

2d  ed.  1893. 

ger),  Palastina  und  Sy- 

De., 

Franz  Dehtzsch. 

rien,  3d  ed.  1891. 

Di., 

August  Dillmann. 

BB., 

Bar  Bahlul. 

Doom., 

A.  van  Doorninck. 

BDB., 

Hebrew  and  English  Lexi- 

Dr., 

S.    R.    Driver;    Dr^.,  He- 

con of  the  Old  Testa- 

brew   Tenses,    3d     ed. 

ment,    &c. ;     edited   by 

1892. 

F.  Brown,  S.  R.  Driver, 

EV., 

English  Versions  (AV.  and 

andC.  A.Briggs,  i89iff. 

RV.). 

Be., 

Ernst  Bertheau. 

Ew., 

Heinrich  Ewald. 

Bi., 

Gustav  Bickell. 

Ff., 

Church  Fathers. 

Bl., 

Friedrich  Bleek. 

Fl.  Jos., 

Flavius      Josephus,      ed. 

BL., 

Bibel-Lexikon,  ed.  by  D. 

Niese,  1887-1895. 

Schenkel,  5  vols.,  1869- 

GAT., 

E.  Reuss,  Geschichte   des 

1875. 

Alten  Testaments,  1881; 

BSZ., 

Gesenius'  Handworterbuch 

2d  ed.  1890. 

fiber    das    Alte    Testa- 

Ges.26, 

Gesenius'           Hebraische 

ment;    12  ed.  by  Buhl, 

Grammatik,  25th  ed.,  by 

with  the  assistance  of  So- 

E.  Kautzsch,  1889. 

cin  and  Zimmern,  1895. 

Ges.  Thes. 

,  Gesenius,    Thesaurus    lin- 

Bo., 

Fried.  Botticher,  Ausfiihr- 

guae  Hebraeae  et  Chal- 

liches      Lehrbuch      der 

daeae  V.  T.,  1829-1858. 

hebraischen   Sprache,   2 

GdH., 

K.  Kittel,  Geschichte  dec 

vols.,  1866,  1868. 

Hebraer,  i.   i,  2,  1888, 

Bu, 

Karl  Budde. 

1892. 

Cass., 

Paulus  Cassel. 

GjV., 

E.  Schurer,  Geschichte  des 

CIL., 

Corpus  Inscriptionum  La- 

judischen     Volkes      im 

tinarum. 

Zeitalter  Jesu  Christi,  2 

CIS., 

Corpus  Inscriptionum  Se- 

vols.,  1 886- 1 890. 

miticarum. 

GVL, 

Geschichte     des     Volkes 

Co., 

C.  H.  CornUl. 

Israel   (Ewald,    2d   and 

COT., 

E.   Schrader,  The  Cunei- 

3d   ed.,    1 864- 1 868,    8 

form  Inscriptions  and  the 

vols. ;       Hitzig,      1 869 ; 

Old  Testament,  1888. 

Stade,  1887  f.,  2  vols.). 

*  See  Preface,  p.  viii.  Abbreviations  which  are  in  common  use,  such  as  the 
names  of  classic  authors  and  Church  Fathers  and  the  titles  of  theiif  works,  are  not 
included. 


INDEX 


475 


IICO'.^  Kuenen,  Ilistoiisch-cri- 
tiscli  Onderzoek,  enz., 
vol.  i.  2d  ed.  1885,  1887. 
(//A'6>i.  1861-1865.) 

HI.,  Ewald,   History    of   Israel. 

(Translation  of  GVI. ) 

IIIVB. ,  I  landworterbuch  des  Bibli- 
schen  Altertunis,  ed.  by 
E.  Riehni,  1st  ed.  1884; 
2d  ed.  1 893-1 894  (cited 
throughout  from  the  lirst 
edition). 

JBL.,  Journal  of  Biblical  Litera- 

ture. 

KAT\,  E.  Schrader,  Die  Keilin- 
schriften  und  das  Alte 
Testament,  2d  ed.  1883. 

Ke.,  C.  F.  Keil. 

Ki.,  David  Kimchi. 

Kitt.,  K.  Kittel. 

Klo.,  or  Klost.,  August  Klostermann. 

Kn.,  August  Knobel. 

Ko.,  F.  E.  Konig,  Lehrgebaude 

der  hebraischen  Sprache, 
i.  1 88 1;  ii.  1895;  Einlei- 
tung  in  das  A.  T.,  1893. 

Kue.,  A.  Kuenen. 

a  Lap.,         Cornelius  a  Lapide. 

Lth.,  or  Luth.,  Luther. 

Mas.,  Andreas  Masius. 

Mei.,  Ernst  Meier. 

Mey.,  Eduard  Meyer. 

MH.,  Mishnic      Hebrew;       the 

language  of  the  Mishna, 
Tosephta,  Midrashim, 
and  considerable  parts 
of  the  Talmud;  often 
called,  not  very  felici- 
tously, "New  Hebrew." 

MV.,  Gesenius'        Handworter- 

buch,  8th-iith  eds.  by 
Muhlau  and  Volck. 

NDJ. ,  Dillmann,    Numeri,    Deu- 

teronomium,  und  Josua, 
1886. 


No., 

Thcodor  Ncildeke. 

01., 

Justus     ( Mshauscn,     Lehr- 

buch     der     hebraischen 

Sprache,  1 86 1. 

osK 

Onomastica      Sacra,      ed. 

Lagarde;    2d  ed.  1887. 

PA  OS., 

Proceedings  of  the  Ameri- 

can Oriental  Society. 

PER   Qu 

St.,  Palestine  Exploration 

Fund,    (Quarterly    State- 

ments. 

PRE^., 

Real-Encyclopaedie        fiir 

protestantische    Theolo- 

gie  und   Kirche,  2(1  ed. 

1877-1888. 

PSBA., 

Proceedings  of  the  Society 

of     Biblical     Archaeol- 

ogy. 

Ra., 

Rashi. 

KEJ., 

Revue  des  etudes  juives. 

RLbG., 

Rabl)i  Levi  ben  Gerson. 

Rob.,  BR'~ 

.,  Edward  Robinson,  Biblical 

Researches  in  Palestine, 

&c.,  2d.ed.  Boston,  i860. 

3  vols. 

Ro.,  or  Roed.,  E.  Roediger. 

RP., 

Records  of  the  Past. 

RV., 

Revised    English   Version, 

1885. 

Schm., 

Sebastian  Schmid. 

SS., 

Hebraisches     Worterbuch 

zum  Alten  Testamente, 
by  C.  Siegfried  and  B. 
Stade,  1893. 

Sta.,  Bernhard  Stade,  Lehrbuch 

der  hebraischen  Gram- 
matik,  1879. 

SWP.,  Survey  of  Western  Pales- 
tine. 

TBS.,  Wellhausen,  Der  Text  der 

Biicher  Samuelis,  1 87 1. 
Driver,  Notes  on  the  He- 
brew Text  of  the  Books 
of  Samuel,  i8yo. 

Thdt.,  Theodoret. 


476 


INDEX 


Thl.Z., 

Th  T. 

Tr.-Jun., 

Vat., 


We., 


Theologische  Literatur- 
zeitung. 

Theologisch  Tijdschrift, 

Trein  el  li  us- Junius. 

"^'atablus  (the  annotations 
printed  by  Robert  Ste- 
phens and  included  in 
Critici  Sacri  under  the 
name  of  Vatablus). 

Julius  Wellhausen;  We., 
Conip. ,  Die  Composition 
des  Hexateuchs  und  der 


historischen  Biicher, 

1889. 
ZATW.,    Zeitschrift   fiir  die  alttesta- 

mentliche  Wissenschaft. 
ZDMG.,     Zeitschrift   der  Deutschen 

Morgenlandischen     Ge- 

sellschaft. 
ZDPV.,      Zeitschrift    des  Deutschen 

Palastina-Vereins. 
ZIV  Th.,      Zeitschri  ft  fiir  wissenschaft- 

liche  Theologie. 


SIGNATURES     FOR    THE     HEBREW    TEXT     AND    VERSIONS     OF    THE     OLD 

TESTAMENT. 


Hebrew  consonant  text.  |^J"*^" 
|j|s:im.  Jewish  and  Samaritan  re- 
censions of  the  Pentateuch. 

ftl  Massoretic  text,  with  vowels  and 
accents. 

(5    Greek  versions  :    (!5-^^  &c,,  see  §  8. 

'A  Aquila;  S  Symmachus;  9  Theo- 
dotion. 

I  01(1  Latin  (pre-Hieronymian) ;  \ 
Coptic-Sahidic  ;      e     Ethiopic  ; 


n 


S  Hexaplar   Syriac;    made   from 

the  Greek  (see  §  8). 
Latin  version  of  St.  Jerome. 
Syriac   version    (Peshitto)  :     ^•''^^ 

&c.,  see  §  8. 
Arabic   version,    made    from    the 

Syriac. 
Targum:      ®ven.  1    ^^c.,    see    §8. 

SP*^""-     Jerusalem  Targums. 


gbe    Unternational    ZTbeoIoQical    Xibrar^ 

^dited  by  Professor  Charles  A.  Briggs,  D.D.,  and 
Professor  Stewart  D.  F.  Salmond,  D.D. 


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CHARLES  A.  BRIGGS. 
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gbe    TInternational    g:beological    Xibrar^ 

A    NEW   VOLUME   JUST  READY 

APOLOGETICS 
Or,  Christianity   Defensively   Stated 

By  ALEXANDER  BALHAIN  BRUCE,  D.D. 

Professor  of   Apologetics   and    New  Testament    Exegesis,   Free  Church   C'.ileRf,   Glasgow 

Author  of  "  The  Training  of  the  Twelve."  "  The  Humiliation  of  Christ" 

"  The  Kingdom  of  God,"  etc. 

I  volume,  528  pages,  crown  8vo,  $2,50  net 

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pROFESSOR  BRUCE'S  work  is  not  an  abstract  treatise 
•'■  on  Apologetics,  but  an  apologetic  presentation  of  the 
Christian  faith,  with  reference  to  whatever  in  our  iutellectual 
environment  makes  faith  difficult  at  the  present  time.  It 
addresses  itself  to  men  whose  sympathies  are  with  Chris- 
tianity and  discusses  the  topics  of  pressing  concern,  the 
burning  questions  of  the  time,  and  is  offered  as  an  aid  to 
faith  rather  than  a  buttress  of  received  belief  and  an  armory 
of  weapons  for  the  orthodox  defender  of  the  faith. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction.  I.  Historical  Sketch.  II.  The  Functions  and  Method 
of  Apologetic. 

Book  I.  Theories  of  the  Universe,  Christian  and  Anti-Christian. 
I.  The  Christian  Facts.  II.  The  Christian  Theory  of  the  Universe.  III.  The 
Pantheistic  Theory.  IV.  The  Materialistic  Theory.  V.  The  Deistic  Theory. 
VI.   Modern  Speculative  Theism.     VII.   Agnosticism. 

Book  II.  The  Historical  Preparation  for  Christianity.  I.  The  Sources. 
XL  The  Religion  of  the  Prophets.  III.  The  Prophetic  Idea  of  Israel's 
Vocation  and  History.  IV.  Mosaism.  V.  Prophetism  VI.  Prophetic 
Optimism.  VII.  Judaism.  VIII.  The  Night  of  Legalism.  IX.  The  Old 
Testament  Literature.  X.  The  Defects  of  the  Old  Testament  Religion  and 
its  Literature. 

Book  III.  The  Christian  Origins.  I.  Jesus.  II.  Jesus  as  the  Christ. 
III.  Jesus  as  Founder  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  IV.  Jesus  Risen.  V.  Jesus 
Lord.  VI.  Paul.  VII.  Primitive  Christianity  VIII,  The  Synoptical 
Gospels      IX.    The  Fourth  Gospel.     X.   The  Light  of  the  World. 


{Tbc    llnternational    ^beological    library 

AN   INTRODUCTION   TO 

The  Literature  of  the  Old   Testament 

By  Prof.  5.  R.  DRIVER,  D.D. 

Canon  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford 


Crown  8vo,  558  pages,  $2,50  net 


Dr.  Driver's  volume  is  not  in  the  sphere  of  history  or  of  theology, 
but  is  a  critical  account  of  the  contents  and  structure  of  the  several 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  considered  as  Heorew  literature,  pre-sup- 
posing  their  inspiration,  but  seeking  to  determine  the  precise  import 
and  scope  of  the  several  writings  by  the  means  of  critical  research 
and  inductive  evidence  and  in  this  way  to  reach  definite  conclusions  as 
far  as  possible,  with  regard  to  the  structure  and  relations  of  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  character  of  this  discussion  is  in  accord  with  the  general 
nature  of  scientific  critical  research  in  its  more  modern  aspects,  but 
Prof.  Driver's  treatise  is  in  every  regard  reverent  and  in  harmony  with 
the  spiritual,  but  at  the  same  time  soundly  philosophical,  views  of  the 
best  Christian  scholars  of  our  day. 

"  It  is  the  most  scholarly  and  critical  work  in  the  English  language  on  the 
literature  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  fully  up  to  the  present  state  of  research  in 
Germany."— Prof.   Philip  Schaff,  D.D. 

"Canon  Driver  has  arranged  his  material  excellently,  is  succinct  without 
being  hurried  or  unclear,  and  treats  the  various  critical  problems  involved  with 
admirable  fairness  and  good  judgment." — Prof.  C.  H.  Toy. 

"  His  judgment  is  singularly  fair,  calm,  unbiassed,  and  independent.  It  is 
also  thoroughly  reverential.  .  .  .  The  service,  which  his  book  will  render  in  the 
present  confusion  of  mind  on  this  great  subject,  can  scarcely  be  overestimated  " 

—  TAe  London    Times. 

"  As  a  whole,  there  is  probably  no  book  in  the  English  language  equal  to  this 
'  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testament '  for  the  student  who  desires 
to  understand  what  the  modern  criticism  ihi?iks  about  the  Bible." 

—Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  in  the  Christian  Union. 

"  The  book  is  one  worthy  of  its  subject,  thorough  in  its  treatment,  reverent  in 
its  tone,  sympathetic  in  its  estimate,  frank  in  its  recognition  of  difficulties,  conserv- 
ative (in  the  best  sense  of  the  word)  in  its  statement  of  results." 

—Prof.  Henry  P.   Smith,  in  the  Magazine  of  Christian  Literature. 

"  In  working  out  his  method  our  author  takes  up  each  book  in  order  and  goes 
through  it  with  marvelous  and  microscopic  care.  Every  verse,  every  clause,  word 
by  word,  is  sifted  and  weighed,  and  its  place  in  the  literary  organism  decided 
upon." — The  Presbyterian  Quarterly. 


ZTbe    llnternational    ^beological    library 

"  It  contains  just  that  presentation  of  the  results  of  Old  Testament  criticism 
for  which  English  readers  in  this  department  have  been  waiting.  .  .  .  The 
whole  book  is  excellent ;  it  will  be  found  helpful,  characterized  as  it  is  all  through 
by  that  scholarly  poise  of  mind  which,  when  it  does  not  know  is  not  ashamerl  to 
present  degrees  of  probability." — New  World. 

"  While  my  opinions  differ  widely  from  his,  I  am  delighted  with  the  book.  It 
is  a  full  and  compact  presentation  of  the  views  now  held  by  many  able  scholars. 
Alike  for  them  and  for  their  opponents  it  is  desirable  to  have  just  such  a  clear  pres- 
entation of  the  matter  placed  within  reach." 

— Prof.  Willis  J    Beecher,  Auburn  Theological  Seminary. 

"  .  .  .  Canon  Driver's  book  is  characterized  throughout  by  thorough  Chris- 
tian scholarship,  faithful  research,  caution  in  the  expression  of  mere  opinions,  candor 
in  the  statement  of  facts  and  of  the  necessary  inferences  from  them,  and  the  devout 
recognition  of  the  divine  inworking  m  the  religious  life  of  the  Hebrews,  and  of  the 
tokens  of  divine  inspiration  in  the  literature  which  records  and  embodies  it." 

— Dr.    A    P.    Peabody,  in  the  Cambridge  Tribune. 

"  To  faith  m  divine  revelation  and  profound  reverence  for  the  Bible  as  the 
record  of  that  revelation  he  joins  a  broad,  general  scholarship,  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  the  Hebrew  language,  an  intimate  familiarity  with  every  part  of  the  ('Id 
Testament,  a  well  balanced  judgment  that  knows  how  to  discriminate  between 
the  certain  and  the  merely  probable,  a  strong  love  of  truth,  and  a  calm  courage  in 
getting  it  forth." — Reformed  Quarterly  Review. 


CHRISTIAN   ETHICS 

By  NEWMAN   SMYTH,  D.D.,  New  Haven 


Crown  8vo,  508  pages,  $2.50  net 


Dr.  Smyth's  volume  fills  a  gap  in  English  ethical  literature,  as  it 
aims  to  give  a  scientific  and  complete  account  of  the  ethics  of  the  Chris- 
tian consciousness  and  life.  The  application  of  ethics  to  the  individual 
duties  and  social  problems  of  modern  life  and  the  authority  of  the 
Bible  are  among  the  specially  interesting  aspects  of  the  discussion. 
The  volume  is  a  worthy  successor  of  Prof.  Driver's  "  Literature  of  the 
Old  Testament,"  the  remarkably  successful  initial  volume  in  this  new 
Library. 

"It  is  by  no  means  a  dry  disquisition  on  ethics  in  general,  presenting  those 
views  of  life  and  duty  which  the  heathen  might  share  with  the  Christian,  Imi 
it  recognizes  Christianity  as  a  power  in  the  world,  having  its  own  standard  of 
right,  and  using  means  for  the  realization  of  its  ideal  in  human  souls  and- in 
human  conduct." — The  Journal  and  Messenger. 


ZTbe    llntcrnational    ZhcolOQXcnl    Xibrarig 

"As  this  book  is  the  latest  so  it  is  the  fullest  and  most  attractive  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  that  we  are  familiar  with.  Patient  and  exhaustive  in  its 
method  of  inquiry,  and  stimulating  and  suggestive  in  the  topic  it  handles,  we 
are  confident  that  it  will  be  a  help  to  the  task  of  the  moral  understanding  and 
interpretation  of  human  life." — T/ie  Living  Church. 

"  This  work  of  Dr.  Smyth  is  worthy  of  careful  perusal,  while  it  is  com- 
prehensive, it  is  developed  from  a  central  idea.  It  is  also  thoroughly,  often 
practically,  finished  in  the  details.  Part  Second  is  a  very  able  discussion  of 
practical  Christian  duties,  furnishing,  at  the  same  time,  many  pages  adapted 
to  devotional  Sunday  reading." 

— Extract  fro?n  a  letter  of  Rev.  George  N.  Boardman^  D.D. 

"  This  book  of  Dr.  Newman  Smyth  is  of  extraordinary  interest  and  value. 
It  is  an  honor  to  American  scholarship  and  American  Christian  thinking. 
It  is  a  work  which  has  been  wrought  out  with  remarkable  grasp  of  conception, 
and  power  of  just  analysis,  fullness  of  information,  richness  of  thought,  and" 
affluence  of  apt  and  luminous  illustration.  Its  style  is  singularly  clear,  simple, 
facile,  and  strong.  Too  much  gratification  can  hardly  be  expressed  at  the  way 
the  author  lifts  the  whole  subject  of  ethics  up  out  of  the  slough  of  mere 
naturalism  into  its  own  place,  where  it  is  seen  to  be  illumined  by  the  Christian 
revelation  and  vision," — The  Advance. 

' '  Far  from  narrowing  the  subject  by  the  apparant  limitation  of  the  title. 
Christian  Ethics,  Dr.  Smyth  has  broadened  it  as  one  broadens  his  landscape 
by  ascending  to  the  highest  possible  point  of  view.  The  subjects  treated  cover 
the  whole  field  of  moral  and  spiritual  relations,  theoretical  and  practical,  natur- 
al and  revealed,  individual  and  social,  civil  and  ecclesiastical.  To  enthrone 
the  personal  Christ  as  the  true  content  of  the  ethical  ideal,  to  show  how  this 
ideal  is  realized  in  Christian  consciousness  and  how  applied  in  the  varied  de* 
partments  of  practical  life — these  are  the  main  objects  of  the  book  and  no 
objects  could  be  loftier." — The  Congregationalist. 

"  It  is  a  noble  book.  So  far  as  I  know  Ethics  have  hitherto  been  treated 
exclusively  from  a  philosophical  point  of  view,  as  though  there  were  no  prophet 
of  the  Moral  Law  whose  interpretation  of  it  we  accept  as  final  and  authorita- 
tive. In  treating  Ethics  from  the  Christian  point  of  view  Professor  Smyth 
has  made  a  notable  contribution  both  philosophically  and  practically.  His 
well-balanced  statement  of  the  Christian  sociological  principles,  his  moderate 
and  well-balanced  statement  of  the  relations  of  the  Church  to  sociological 
evolution,  and  his  exposition  of  the  duties  of  an  agnostic  toward  the  God  who 
is  unknown  to  him,  and  yet  whose  existence  is  not  denied,  strike  me  as  among 
the  most  admirable  features  of  a  book  admirable  throughout,  which  I  hope 
may  find  its  way  into  our  Christian  schools  and  seminaries  as  a  text-book." 
— Extract  frotn  a  letter  of  Dr.  Lytnan  Abbott. 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS.  Publishers 
743-745   Broadway,  New  York 


DATE  DUE 


Demco,  Inc.  38-293 


